Teachable Moments

If there is one thing Gabe Gillingham knows after nearly 18 years of military and civilian law enforcement service is that proper training is essential.

“I don’t think that there was a certain aspect of training that I solely focused on in furthering my career as a police officer,” Gillingham said. “It didn’t matter if it was advanced SWAT tactics or a class put on by the community college about customer service. If it were going to help me as an officer or better the agency or community, I would take it. Training is such an important aspect of what we do.”

Gillingham brings this training mentality to his role as an instructor at the Department of Criminal Justice Training.

KYPCIS

Gillingham is an instructor in DOCJT’s Professional Development and Wellness Branch, where he helps provide instruction on stress and wellness for experienced officers. When teaching, Gillingham offers life experiences from his time with the Hopkinsville Police Department and the U.S. Army to those he instructs.

“I teach basic training classes on wellness, post-traumatic stress, critical-incident aftercare and financial wellness,” Gillingham explained. “I get to give a block of instruction on graduation day to the officers and their families about some of the things they may encounter as a law enforcement officer’s family and what resources are available to them to work through (situations that may arise). I am also an active law enforcement and veteran peer support member in our Kentucky Post Critical Incident Seminar (KYPCIS).”

His passion for teaching topics related to stress and wellness comes from personal experience. Gillingham noted when he teaches blocks on the topic, the discomfort in the room is obvious.

“It’s not a comfortable conversation to have because of the stigma out there in regards to officer mental health and well-being,” Gillingham said. “For many, there is a belief that once you’ve been diagnosed as having post-traumatic stress your career and your life is over.”

That is not the case, he stressed.

(Photo provided)

“In 2004, after my second deployment in Iraq, I was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress,” he said. “I was told that my life was pretty much over, and that within three years, I would be completely unsociable. I was told I would be unable to have any meaningful connections with anyone, and I would not be able to handle any stressing event and ultimately end up unemployed and all alone.

“That was 16 years ago. Since then, I’ve had a successful career at HPD, ending my time on the street as a patrol sergeant and SWAT Team Commander, and now I’m here as an instructor,” he continued. “I have a wonderful relationship with my wife. We’ve been together for 22 years and have four great kids. That’s not to say we don’t have ups and downs, but we don’t let it define our relationship. PTSD is not the end of the world; it doesn’t define you and what your capabilities are.”

Gillingham said the KYPCIS program has been long overdue and has paid huge dividends since its inception.

“We do a great job at teaching officers how to survive an encounter and process horrendous scenes, but until 2017 very little was done to help them survive the aftermath,” he explained. “Same with our dispatchers. We’ve taught them how to remain calm on the other end of the phone or the radio and be a shining beacon in the night, but very little was done to help them from keeping their imagination of what the scene was really like from taking over.”

Under Pressure

One of the many challenges in the law enforcement profession is stressful situations. Gillingham is no stranger to these situations, whether on a battlefield in Iraq or with the Hopkinsville Police Department’s SWAT team.

One such situation Gillingham shared involved a homicide suspect who had returned to the Hopkinsville area about a month after the crime occurred. In the interim, Gillingham had just became the team commander when the delicate operation took place.

(Photo provided)

“We had been coordinating with several of our Task Force Officers (individuals who are assigned to federal or multi-jurisdictional task forces) and utilizing our networks with federal agencies,” he said. “We had received a tip that the suspect was back in town for an event. We were able to geo-locate his new phone at a location out in the county. The location – a house with open fields giving him a perfect 365-degree view around the property. On top of it, there were about 50 to 60 people at the house an event with a dozen of them being kids.”

Because of the mission’s challenges, Gillingham said constant communication with the command staff was necessary but challenging.

“We were about to lose some of our assistance from some agencies because they couldn’t spend any more time helping us. They had other agencies to help,” Gillingham explained. “The plan was solid. Everyone agreed that we had to move immediately with the resources we had available. We had several agencies helping to provide a perimeter (out of sight) around the location, and the team was to make contact at the scene. We were able to execute the arrest warrant without incident, even after the suspect was found hiding in a vehicle with a small child.” 

From Cop to Instructor

Many years of wear and tear on his body forced Gillingham to step away from HPD in 2015, but after receiving needed medical treatment, he returned to policing.

“I had resigned from the department because I needed several surgeries, and I was told it would be an extensive recovery time,” he said. “In December 2016, I went back to HPD, part-time, conducting background investigations, and taking over accreditation.”

That lasted for a short time as in May 2017, he saw an instructor position posting on DOCJT’s Facebook page. 

“I jokingly said to my wife, ‘I should apply,’” he recalled. “She said, “Go for it. What do we have to lose?” My family had never really lived anywhere else other than Clarksville, Tenn. When I was in the military, during all of the unaccompanied duty stations and deployments; they couldn’t go with me. The thought of moving to the Richmond area was exciting for all of us.  Gillingham was given the job offer at the end of June and started in August.”

Being an instructor is both challenging and rewarding, Gillingham pointed out.

“Staying ahead of the curve where it comes to training is the biggest challenge,” he said. “Things out on the street evolve very quickly. As instructors, we have to be able to stay ahead of that to provide relevant and useful training to the officers.”

Conquering those challenges and helping law enforcement officers on the street do their jobs better and safer makes his efforts worthwhile.

“My greatest reward as an instructor are the officers, and being able to have an open and honest discussion in the classroom about the topics we are discussing,” he said. “They make me a better instructor.”