Pascagoula PD Provides Behavioral Training for Officers

The Pascagoula Police Department and the Gulf Coast High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Program (H.I.D.T.A.) provided free training to local police officers on behavioral analysis and interview techniques to better prepare officers dealing with stressful situations.

Steve Varnell, a retired Florida state trooper who now teaches law enforcement how to evaluate dangerous situations, stresses safety and survival. Varnell says, "Behaviors and recognizing behaviors and understanding what stress does to your behavior recognition and once you understand these things, then you can control that stress and become a safer officer."

Training coordinator for Pascagoula Police, Bruce Lynd, believes this training is vital to ensure officers make it home safe every day. Lynd says, "It’s getting a lot more dangerous out there every day, especially I fear more for our younger officers just getting started with no experience with some of our criminals that have way more experience than them."

Varnell stresses that criminals are also evaluating the officer’s behavior and teaches them to never hesitate to call for backup, especially when there is more than one person in the car. Varnell also says, "Backup is everything. It’s the number one cause of most officer fatalities, trying to deal with issues and problems by themselves."

When someone is experiencing high stress levels or anxiety, they usually have a high pulse rate that can be noticed from the middle of their neck, they can’t stand still, or are constantly clearing their throat or coughing. These are all signs law enforcement look for during traffic stops to know if something’s suspicious. Detective Lamar Underwood was reminded Wednesday of the blinker indicator to know if the driver is on the defense or offense in a situation. Underwood says, "If they’re leaving their traffic lights on, that means they’re too busy focusing on their side mirrors and looking at you rather than trying to understand why you pulled them over."

Varnell’s lessons are to prepare officers when they have to make split second decisions, decisions that could follow them for the rest of their lives.