An Interview With Dr. Gardner, Police Psychologist Oakland County Sheriff's Office, MI

Abstract

In this interview, Dr. Gardner, Police Psychologist of the Oakland County Sheriff's Office, provides his insights about working with police officers. He provides an overview of the factors that influenced his decision to pursue this career and which experiences were the most meaningful in helping him be successful as a provider within this unique population. He describes his qualifications as a psychologist, his experiences as a police officer, and the importance of having both of these. He discusses the differences in culture between police officers and the community and the barrier this creates for non-police psychologists to serve such individuals. In addition, he reflects on the unhelpful aspects of cop culture and the negative effects this has on officers' mental health. For the sake of increasing mental health integration and improving officers' quality of life, he concludes by encouraging more individuals to pursue a career in police psychology.