Day to day on the job
Movies and TV shows about cops emphasize the high-stakes drama of police work: murder investigations, gang busts, armed robberies. But that’s only part of the job.
“When I was a patrol officer, I’d be doing one thing, eating lunch or relaxing, and the next minute a call comes in and it’s zero to 60,” says John McCarthy, a former Honolulu deputy chief of police. “There’s been many medical studies on police officers working at that high intensity all the time. It’s known to cause a lot of PTSD and anxiety disorders in individuals. Many officers will just constantly be on high alert waiting for a terrible call to come in.”
McCarthy retired as deputy chief of HPD in 2021 after 45 years of service.
Traumatic experience
“One of the most shocking cases I’ve dealt with was when I was working the midnight watch, just about to get off and I get a call about a suicide in the park,” McCarthy recalls…