14 • Psychological Effects of Undercover Policing Channels 2022 including the habits they developed. At the same time, though, the officer must recall their true identity and all of the personal features they abandoned for the operation, such as their personality, habits, and relationships. Understandably so, this transition often does not come easily. Those around the officer often expect an instant reversion, but more likely the process happens gradually over time. Unfortunately this gradual reversion can create additional tension and negatively impact the officer’s reintegration. The reintegration period is also a time in which, if not addressed, officers can develop negative coping mechanisms to deal with the frustrations and tensions involved with readapting. Many officers turn to drugs or alcohol during these periods, which can then impact their ability to return to work (Farkas, 1986). This can quickly become a vicious cycle of harm to the officer: tension is created or naturally present, the officer develops or uses unhealthy coping mechanisms, he or she is unable to return to work due to their coping strategies, tension is created, and so on. While the department or agency cannot easily solve every complex problem created by the reintegration process, something must be done to alleviate the issues in order to set the returning officers up for success. Propose Solutions to Key Issues Four proposed solutions correspond to the key issues presented. The first solution regards the issue of minimal training policies and procedures and is two-pronged: the baseline training should be increased exponentially in order to best prepare officers for their time undercover, but additional training outside of the local department should be offered and recommended for all officers who are currently pursuing undercover positions or in between operations. As the current literature has recorded, undercover police officers are offered a severely limited amount of training prior to their operations. While every department will have varying programs and policies regarding training, the data reflects that a nationwide increase in undercover officer training would be a net positive. Pragmatically speaking, officers will be more prepared for their operation after completing a greater amount of training. Not only will they gain practical experience, but they will also have greater self-confidence and communication skills (McHenry, 2019). Also, many voluntary training programs are currently available to police officers. Researchers have demonstrated such programs to be effective in providing further education and preparation for officers (Wamsley, 2015). Thus, the second prong of this solution recommends that departments and agencies, at a minimum, strongly endorse these outside training programs to their officers. Requiring these programs for additional training credit would be a step above. After implementing this solution, the department or agency should conduct routine assessments in order to determine any weaknesses in their programs or implementation strategies. A factor these assessments should focus on is whether the training improvements have had an
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