Wasted Honor -- - Say What you Need To Say......: TSU – PSTD

Wasted Honor -

Carl R. ToersBijns is the author of the Wasted Honor Trilogy [Wasted Honor I,II and Gorilla Justice] and his newest book From the Womb to the Tomb, the Tony Lester Story, which is a reflection of his life and his experiences as a correctional officer and a correctional administrator retiring with the rank of deputy warden in the New Mexico and Arizona correctional systems.

Carl also wrote a book on his combat experience in the Kindle book titled - Combat Medic - Men with destiny - A red cross of Valor -

Carl is considered by many a rogue expert in the field of prison security systems since leaving the profession. Carl has been involved in the design of many pilot programs related to mental health treatment, security threat groups, suicide prevention, and maximum custody operational plans including double bunking max inmates and enhancing security for staff. He invites you to read his books so you can understand and grasp the cultural and political implications and influences of these prisons. He deals with the emotions, the stress and anxiety as well as the realities faced working inside a prison. He deals with the occupational risks while elaborating on the psychological impact of both prison worker and prisoner.

His most recent book, Gorilla Justice, is an un-edited raw fictional version of realistic prison experiences and events through the eyes of an anecdotal translation of the inmate’s plight and suffering while enduring the harsh and toxic prison environment including solitary confinement.

Carl has been interviewed by numerous news stations and newspapers in Phoenix regarding the escape from the Kingman prison and other high profile media cases related to wrongful deaths and suicides inside prisons. His insights have been solicited by the ACLU, Amnesty International, and various other legal firms representing solitary confinement cases in California and Arizona. He is currently working on the STG Step Down program at Pelican Bay and has offered his own experience insights with the Center of Constitutional Rights lawyers and interns to establish a core program at the SHU units. He has personally corresponded and written with SHU prisoners to assess the living conditions and how it impacts their long term placement inside these type of units that are similar to those in Arizona Florence Eyman special management unit where Carl was a unit deputy warden for almost two years before his promotion to Deputy Warden of Operations in Safford and Eyman.

He is a strong advocate for the mentally ill and is a board member of David's Hope Inc. a non-profit advocacy group in Phoenix and also serves as a senior advisor for Law Enforcement Officers Advocates Council in Chino, California As a subject matter expert and corrections consultant, Carl has provided interviews and spoken on national and international radio talk shows e.g. BBC CBC Lou Show & TV shows as well as the Associated Press.

I use sarcasm, satire, parodies and other means to make you think!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Friday, July 24, 2015

TSU – PSTD – Smoke and Fire

TSU – PSTD – Smoke and Fire =Monsters

Not much has been said about our military men and women coming home and becoming police officers or correctional officers and then switching back into an assault role by joining their respective emergency response teams [ERT] causing some concern about those members already filled with PTSD and other traumatizing disorders while on duty and off duty. Soldiers, Marines and other servicemen and women joining law enforcement is no anomaly. It has rather, become the general rule to follow.

Soldiers and Marines, make great cops and are hired for such duty assignments in a plentiful fashion. Having experience with combat, giant black tactical armored vehicles, chest high armor plated, M16 or other high powered weaponry, they are exposed to the blasts of roadside bombs, roof top snipers, and close quarters building to building search and destroy missions and many other skills designed for a warrior.

Today, the idea of becoming a cop or correctional officer doing their jobs of enforcing rules and regulations, armed with lethal or non-lethal weapons attracts warriors of such experience levels and should cause a concern for those employing these warriors. Given the national talent searching and soul-searching task of finding qualified candidates for police work, these warriors are accosted by private and public enforcement entities in large numbers.

Security companies are hiring warriors at a high rate and giving them key roles as first responders and other high profile parts. Enter corrections, the public and private prison exhibition arena and you are instantly taken away with the presence of assault rifles, gas masks, helmets, tactical gear, night-vision devices and countless other references to the war zone. This reflects what is commonly called a 9/11 symbolism where the presence of force and power is appropriate and, of course, this being a gung-ho, ERT /TSU / SWAT-team jamboree, self-awareness was all-pervasive.

Make no mistake, there are problems here as these heroes, warrior or whatever you want to call these PTSD laden men and women, are sophisticated people, individuals coming back from combat who know how to use their weapons and are dealing with PTSD. We have to become more aware and more cautious that there is a definite link between PTSD and violence and that such links could reveal acts that are inappropriately handled for the crime, misconducts dealt with and could create an escalation of a situation that might be viewed as combat and is overblown to the point of distortion.

There you have it in a nutshell, we are turning police / correctional officers back into soldiers to deal with non-combat situations that may be handled as actual combat due to PTSD. The insanity comes a full circle. Those who fight monsters (PTSD) inevitably change. Because of all that they see and do, they lose their innocence, and a piece of their humanity with it. If they want to survive, they begin to adopt some of the same characteristics as the monsters they fight. It is necessary. They become capable of rage, and extreme violence.

Sometimes, this blurs lines as it becomes increasingly difficult to keep the lines clear. They keep those monster tendencies locked away in a cage, deep inside waiting for a trigger to release all that emotional pent-up feelings. That monster is only allowed out to protect others, to accomplish the mission, to get the job done and how it gets done is often left up to these warriors. Not for the perverse pleasure that these warriors possessed by these monsters, feel they want to intentionally harm others. In fact, those monster tendencies cause damage...guilt, isolation, depression, PTSD.

There is a cost for visiting violence on others when you are possessed by a monster. Those who do so know one thing...The cost inflicted upon society as a whole is far greater without those who fight monsters creating a necessity that allows them to exist. That is why they join tactical special units [TSU] as they are willing to make that horrible sacrifice so that others may live peaceably. Before you judge one of us, remember this before you speak. On the other hand, regardless how the monsters roam inside the head or the heart, it is still up to personal responsibility to accept what it does to others including yourself - PTSD is relentless in finding victims and should be addressed to avoid pitfalls of becoming the monster it is and creates in all reality. Help should be sought and treatment should be provided without labels, stigmas or stereotyping this help or assistance as a weakness, when in fact, it is quite the opposite.