As all veteran police officers will agree, the job of being a law
enforcement officer is challenging and dangerous. But many will tell you that
the stresses of the job are easily accepted by those who chose to wear the
uniform and badge. All police officers bravely face daily the possibility of
their own death on the job and also the possibility that they might need to use
lethal force against another. Many who have served in law enforcement will tell
you that the stresses inherent to the job are not as problematic as stresses
from within their own personal lives or the stress of having a conflict with
your boss. Police officers are trained how to use force but also taught how to
restrain from using force, how to negotiate, how to de-escalate a hostile situation.
These "peace keeping" skills are very important to the officer's
survival on the job and also to his/her effectiveness. When officers are
confronted with a hostile situation, they immediately have a human biological
response -- an increase in epinephrine/cortisol. This blood hormone, Cortisol,
readies the body to respond if the situation becomes more dangerous and needs
immediate action. But at the same time, the officer's higher reasoning
cognitive centers in the brain, are trying to control his/her base instincts of
survival and also his/her own inherent emotional response to the event
unfolding before them. To be a good well trained and properly behaved police
officer -- this cognitive control of the emotions is essential. Otherwise the
officer might get "carried away" and use excessive force or
alternatively not control his own fear and thus be unable to pursue the
suspect.
Life happens, even to those who are charged with the duty to protect and serve.
The story of New Jersey Police Officer Edward Lutes is one to educate us all of
the perils of the hazardous duty of a police officer and the inescapable fact
that we are all human, even those who protect and serve.
So what happened on an evening in April 2002 surprised everyone in the Seaside
Heights community. Officer Lutes went on a shooting spree, killing several
people before shooting himself fatally.
What made a good officer snap?
As with all human
tragedies, the truth was a complicated matter, with both personal tragedy and
also deeper societal problems involved. When the story finally unfolded, it
became evident that Officer Lutes had suffered many losses. In 1991 Officer
Lutes' mother died of cancer at age 54. In March 1999, one of Officer Lutes'
neighbors, Dominick Galliano was charged with sexually assaulting the officer's
young daughter. Later in January 2001 Dominick Galliano was acquitted of the
assault charges. Then another blow, Lutes was bereaved by his fiancee's death
in a tragic car accident. Those who knew Officer Lutes said that this series of
personal events had left Officer Lutes mildly depressed and also without the
emotional support of his beloved fiancee. So the officer sought professional help
and was prescribed the drug Luvox for depression. Luvox(Fluvoxamine) had a FDA
black box warning label stating that it can cause violent behavior and suicide,
yet it was given to this officer for his depression.
On that fateful day in 2002 Officer Lutes fatally shot the man accused of
sexually assaulting his daughter. Dominick Galliano, 51, wife Gail Galliano,
49, and their son, Christopher Galliano, 25 were all shot multiple times. Then
after shooting the Gallianos, Lutes then walked across the street and shot Gary
Williams, who had testified on behalf of Dominick Galliano at his trial. Lutes,
not only killed Williams, 48, but also his wife, Tina Williams, 46. The
Williams' 23-year-old son survived, by jumping out a back window and alerting
the police. Officer Lutes got in his car and drove 20 miles to the home of his
police chief, James Costello, whom he shot and wounded before leaving and
killing himself.
The day that Officer Lutes went out and shot 5 people, he was being medicated
with the anti-depressant medication -- Luvox. The drug Luvox did not
"cure" Officer Lutes' depression. The effect of the drug on Officer
Lutes could have been anticipated because there had been numerous reports of
violent behavior of patients using the drug Luvox reported to the Food and Drug
Administration. The US Food and Drug administration had issued a black box
warning about the possibility of violent thoughts and behavior including
suicide. The drug Luvox, like other psychiatric drugs has clear effects on
brain function.
Psychiatric drugs including neuroleptic and atypical anti-psychotic medications
block receptors in the brain and cause a decrease the flow of dopamine -- a
neurotransmitter. Most importantly these medications cause a decrease in the
cognitive abilities of the patient -- thus affecting the higher centers of the
brain involved in reasoning and behavioral control.
When a police officer is under stress, there is an increase in cortisol in the
blood stream. During a life or death experience, or a life altering tragedy,
this powerful blood borne hormone allows the body to respond quickly to danger.
Police Officers and those who deal daily with stressful situations at work,
quickly learn how to manage their own responses to the rapid increase of
cortisol. Often during a particular event, the officer will suspend his own
feelings and instead act in the moment. Rapid responses allow the officer to
respond to danger quickly and efficiently. But after the event is over, he must
go home and find some way to relax. This may prove difficult because not all
events in an officer's life are easy to forget -- some sights, sounds, smells
and feelings persist even during the sleep cycle. Thus it is not unusual for
officers to use alcohol to drown the painful memories or to utilize
prescription medications like sleep aids. But the use of medications like Luvox
for this purpose must be re-examined. Drugs like Luvox cause a rise in blood
cortisol thus causing the period of heightened response to be longer.
Anti-depressants, anti-psychotics, neuroleptics are very dangerous medications.
These drugs do not "cure" stress or depression -- they mask symptoms
and give rise to other unwanted side effects. There can be a number of
undesirable neuroleptic effects of the medications on the patient including:
1. Psychomotor Retardation -- motor slowing, body not moving so well
2. Emotional indifference - not being emotionally responsive / not caring,
apathy, lack of initiative, limited range of emotion
3. Reduced initiative -- not showing interest in initiating activity
4. Slowing of thought -- decreased reasoning ability
5. Tremors
6. Difficulty eating and talking
7. Memory impairment
8. Not being able to sit still, pacing
9. Racing thoughts, restlessness and agitation
One side effect is racing thoughts, restlessness, and agitation this can lead
to violent thoughts and actions. Because these medications slow down the
ability of the upper levels of the brain to do cognitive reasoning, the patient
can't think clearly and can't use reason to over-ride basic human emotions.
Thus human emotions of fear, anger, revenge, frustration, are not moderated by
the higher reasoning portions of the brain and thus actions can occur without
reasoned control. This functional lack of inhibition by the higher brain
centers means lack of control over one's actions. For a police officer, trained
to use lethal force, dealing with multiple personal traumas and with anger at
the system that failed in his eyes to protect his daughter from sexual harm,
the use of a drug like Luvox was lethal -- not just to Officer Lutes but those
around him.
We need to carefully re-consider that the use of these medications especially
those known to cause violent behavior. These medications are given much too
quickly and with too little consideration for the side effects. They should
instead be used only in extreme psychiatric situations that can be managed no
other way, rather than how they are now prescribed for mild depression and
described as "safe." The risk of violence caused by these drugs is
great, leading to tragedies like this
shooting spree but also domestic violence, violent crime and many suicides.
The efficacy of psychiatric drugs is complicated by a number of serious side
effects which are associated with their use. These include a number of muscular
side effects known as extra-pyramidal reactions: dystonia (muscle spasms,
particularly in the face and arms, irregular flexing, writhing or grimacing and
protrusion of the tongue); akathesia (internal restlessness or agitation, an
inability to sit still); akinesia (physical immobility and lack of
spontaneity); and Parkinsonisms (mask-like facial expression, drooling, muscle
stiffness, tremors, shuffling gait). The drugs can also cause a number of
non-muscular side effects, such as blurred vision, dry mouth and throat, weight
gain, dizziness, fainting depression, low blood pressure and, less frequently,
cardiovascular changes and, on occasion, sudden death.
Tardive dyskinesia is a very serious and potentially lethal side effect of
anti-psychotic drugs. Tardive dyskinesia is a generally irreversible
neurological disorder characterized by involuntary rhythmic and grotesque
movement of the face, mouth, tongue, and jaw. The patient's extremities, neck,
back and torso can also, become involved. These psychiatric medications have
significant and often unpredictable short term and long term risks of harmful
side effects."
Officer Edward Lutes' case was joined with the case of Mark Taylor, the
Columbine shooting victim in a case against Solvay Pharmaceuticals. Solvay
Pharmaceuticals continued to market the drug Luvox even after the FDA demanded
that a black box warning label be placed on their product. Luvox was sold by
Solvay to another pharmaceutical company and re-named and still sold even after
several mass shooting tragedies. These psychiatric medications with this black
box warning label about violent behavior, continue to be sold to countless
patients - some of whom are police officers.
For Further information about FDA:
Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) MedWatch Adverse Event Reporting program
online [at http://www.fda.gov/Safety/MedWatch ]
or by phone [1-800-332-1088].
Additional Information about Officer Lutes case:
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/04/11/nyregion/suspect-called-dedicated-but-he-had-a-lot-of-losses.html
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2002/04/11/national/main505877.shtml
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/04/13/nyregion/a-look-at-what-preceded-officer-s-killings-and-suicide.html
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