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Monday, July 2, 2012

THREE POLICE FORCES NABBED OFFICER ANDREW ROBSON



Even the headline in last Saturday's Waterloo Region Record raised my eyebrows somewhat: "Three police forces helped nab ill officer in sting". Obviously with a headline like that, the question is why did it take three police forces and why are any police forces trying to "nab" an ill officer in the first place? I will admit that my opinion on what first appeared as a simple case of stupidity/immaturity by a local police officer has been affected by comments received here in the Advocate.

The Record states "...Robson is one of several local officers charged with crimes or professional misconduct in a scandal involving drug use.". Further the Record states "...Robson was suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder due to incidents on the job and had developed marijuana and alcohol addictions as a result.". Boy this is way past any expertise or experience I may have in the realm of PTSD and or addictions. I will say that Officer Robson certainly would not remotely be the first police officer to succumb to these very real on the job dangers. What I don't know is the likelihood of sucessful professional intervention that could either get him back on the job or as a minimum relieve him of the negative health effects of PTSD. Nor do I know how sincere an effort has been made by our local force to rehabillatate this still young officer.

I hope and expect that these questions are answered at the upcoming trial and also hope that whether he stays on the force or not that senior officers and the police association face up to the mental and pyschological stresses officers face. Physical on the job injury can be much more easily seen but is sometimees less difficult to treat.
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5 comments:

  1. AnonymousJuly 4, 2012 at 11:48 AM

    I agree with this article completely. Well said, and thank you for shedding light on this issue.

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  2. AnonymousJuly 6, 2012 at 11:35 AM

    I thought the police were there to help their own. Sure doesn't seem that way. I feel really bad for that officer knowing he was sick. Sounds to me like they should have stepped in and offered him help instead of wasting 3 police forces to nab him.

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  3. AnonymousJuly 10, 2012 at 4:07 PM

    until this hearing, the waterloo regional police service had no policy regarding post traumatic stress disorder and part of the delay for this trial has been because the service is scrambling to throw one together and cover their own rear ends.
    who are these other officers? this seems like a smear campaign against an officer whose boss didn't particularly like him and has taken too far.
    what kind of "union" does this? the CAW and UFCW even have policy in place to deal with addictions and mental health issues but one of the largest police services in the province doesn't?
    shame on the waterloo regional police service. 3 services took part in this "operation" for suspected marajuana usage? the rest of their officers are so sparkling clean on and off duty that THIS was a major priority? what an incredible waste of resources and a good cop who made a poor choice when no one would listen when he asked for help. .

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  4. AnonymousJuly 10, 2012 at 4:15 PM

    i agree whole heartedly.
    what a waste of tax money and both officer and court time.
    people are turning houses into meth labs, prostituting youth, selling drugs to kids (this officer had it for his own use!), sexually assaulting women and an officer who was SUSPECTED of using a drug, otherwise punishable by probation and/or a fine, is their utmost priority?
    i'm baffled by this service's lack of policy and how quick their union has been to turn their backs on a suffering "brother."
    again, i agree completely with the previous post: shame on all of you but thank you for openly demonstrating a perfectly good reason for why the public should hold next to trust in the services you provide.

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  5. AnonymousJuly 24, 2012 at 8:03 PM

    Everyone knows that this officer is not the only one who may have turned to illegal substances in a crisis. Now is the time to be honest and set up help for all of the officers who need it, there's lots of them out there and ignoring this problem doesn't help anything let alone the public which is the entire purpose of police services!

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