Thread by @suzannezeedyk

Why are some police officers coping with the horrific news of #SarahEverard by rejecting Couzens' membership in the police force? This is an ordinary, common human response to stressful times. It is also dangerous.
A THREAD on DENIAL.

https://twitter.com/SkyNews/status/1443199259399049220?s=20

2. Wayne Couzens murdered #SarahEverard. Horrifically. It is now public knowldge that he (mis)used his authority as a police officer (uniform, handcuffs, arrest powers) to achieve that. Other police officers who wear t same uniform&title hv to come to terms w/ ths sickening news.

3. How does a person cope with t idea that someone else in 'your group' does something sickening? This is a question about belonging, about identity, about group membership, about attachment. The immediate answer is easy: Deny their membership. Revoke it."They aren't one of us."

4. Denial is a basic coping technique for us human beings. It's common,ordinary, understandable. It is also dangerous. It gives you safety, but not solutions."Denial is a defense mechanism that involves ignoring t reality of a situation to AVOID ANXIETY."
verywellmind.com/denial-as-a-de…

5. "If you are in denial, it often means you are strugglng to accept something that seems overwhelming or stressful." Yes, pretty overwhelmng that a member of your own group used precisely t symbols of yr group (uniform, arrest) to enact sickening horror.
verywellmind.com/denial-as-a-de…

6. So POLICE LEADERSHIP matters right now. The job of healthy police leaders is to hold &acknowldge t anxiety of their membrs, whilst not opting for denial themslves. That's called a BOUNDARY. "I get ths feels sickening. AND yet Couzens was a police officer." Hold BOTH realities.

7. We humans find it difficult to hold two realities at the same time. Especially if one is distasteful. It's easier to ditch t distasteful reality. It helps us in t moment. It feels better right now. It provides a sense of safety. That's understandable. BUT IT ISN'T A SOLUTION.

8. We do it all the time. We distance. We say "He was a monster". @Graham_Goulden has been tweeting in the last day abt why the 'monster narrative' is dangerous in trying to face up to what has happened here. If police distance, they don't have to look.

https://twitter.com/Graham_Goulden/status/1443264090781192199?s=20

9. @darrenrichman has made the point that the football community engages in denial too. When supporters "behave abhorrently, they're dismissed as 'not fans'". He urges holding both realities: "They are fans & the only way to change things is to admit it."

https://twitter.com/darrenrichman/status/1443240724485529600?s=20

10. When it was discovered in 2000 that Harold Shipman had misused the trust placed in him as a GP & murdered 215 patients, members of the medical profession urged *against* denial. "How shd GPs respond to this discovery of a FELLOW PRACTITIONER?" pmj.bmj.com/content/80/944…

11. It is hard to keep holdng on two realities at the same time, when one of them is shocking & the other is comforting. It is easier to ditch t uncomfortable one. It takes courage not to. And it is in such courage that solutions are discovered, for systems &for individual lives.

12. I am trying to say somethng ordinary in ths thread: "Denial has a function. It is understandable. AND it is dangerous." Maybe a gutted police officer out there will read ths thread. Maybe they will step forward w/ courage &say: "He was one of us. We need to acknowldge that."

13. Because, you know what? The failure of t police force in the past to look at Couzens' behaviour added to ths horrific outcome. He already had a reputation as abusive. Why did the police force reach for denial then? Recognising the draw of denial is part of creating solutions.

14. Many others have tried to get us to think abt t function of denial. Here's @KeithKahnHarris writing in @guardian 2018. "Denialism is rooted in human tendencies that are neither freakish nor pathological. Yet there is no doubt that it is dangerous." theguardian.com/news/2018/aug/…

15. So what am I saying? I'm not gettng angry at t police officers who are denying a terrible truth: Couzens was a police officer. I am holding on 2 realities at t same time: 1) I hear it is unbearable to face this. 2) It is still true. I'm holdng you to account to face it w/ me.

16. It is a terrible twisted nexus. Police officers who understandably turn to denial to make themselvs feel better put everyone else at risk. Turning down their own terror heightens the terror that women feel. Police officers are scared of humiliation. Women are scared of dying.

17. #FierceCuriosity. This is t perfect time for it. I'm scared writing that. Curiosity sounds weak in a social media world. Fury &outrage sound more active. But without t curiosity to look at terrifying things, there can be no change. Denial is the precise demonstration of that.

18/end. So thank you to other commentators like @Graham_Goulden @DirectorVRU @polblonde who are right now urging us against a simplistic 'monster narrative' to explain away t monstrous acts of Couzens. You make me feel braver. I hope ths thread might offer that to a few others.