In his 10 Deadly Errors, Chief Pierce Brooks defined Preoccupation as worrying about personal problems while on duty. He called that the hard way to solve the problem. I agree and I think this is still a problem. However, there is more types of preoccupation nowadays. I will focus more on this in part 2.
As for personal problems, I have seen time and again good police officers keep themselves distracted by drama in their personal life. Life's normal distractions like sick children, deaths in the family, job loss of a loved one, and many more normal problems can loom large in anyone's life, including that of a police officer. Why do we continue to add to these problems? Shift work is hard enough on a marriage, why add infidelity to the mix? Why risk your pension? You already may not spend enough time with your kids, so why make that time even less?
One of the most glaring examples of personal life drama is from 2012 and the time then-Arkansas coach Bobby Petrino received a very public lesson in integrity:
http://espn.go.com/ncf/story/_/id/7798429/arkansas-razorbacks-fire-bobby-petrino-coach
His boss, Athletic Director Jeff Long said, "In short, coach Petrino engaged in a pattern of misleading and
manipulative behavior designed to deceive me and members of the athletic
staff, both before and after the motorcycle accident." Petrino's demise came after the married coach wrecked his motorcycle with his 25 year old girlfriend on the back. This exposed his using university money to get her a job. Caught in the fall-out was a Captain with the Arkansas State Police who was dinged for accepting free season & bowl tickets and a $225 Sugar Bowl ring.
http://espn.go.com/ncf/story/_/id/8098662/arkansas-razorbacks-panel-finds-bobby-petrino-trooper-likely-broke-law
http://espn.go.com/ncf/story/_/id/7793690/trooper-called-arkansas-razorbacks-coach-bobby-petrino-report-released
In short, integrity matters and no single person is bigger than the organization:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mv9zpdTmt-k
Needless drama can pop up even with the single officers. They seem to have a pathological need to flirt or attempt to date every woman they encounter. Sadly this can even end up a criminal act. This officer in England lost his job and almost his freedom because he couldn't contain himself around a domestic violence victim:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/crime/7367395/Police-officer-who-had-sex-with-domestic-violence-victim-spared-jail.html
This horrible story from New York is full of problems from the start.
http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/nypd-cops-admit-wrongdoing-jobs-article-1.2143564
Looking at the above case from a risk management perspective, why go drinking with your rape victim? First problem right there.
Keep your mind on your job!
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