When I began reading this book, I had no idea what TJF Syndrome stood for and after following Oscar’s journey through the book, it came as less of a surprise that TJF Syndrome means This Job is Fucked.
When you think of the police, what is the first thing that comes to mind? For me, it’s trust. It’s always been trust, even as I’ve grown older and learned that in an organisation like the police nothing is ever black and white. A big part of why TJF Syndrome left me unsettled is it is written by former police officer David Stanley of his experiences in the NSW police force.
Reading it, I desperately wished I hadn’t for given David’s experiences I knew there was a depressing truth to the words on the page. I didn’t want to know about the realities of the politics of policing but as David points out below without things like this becoming public and conversations starting, how else can change start?
Before you joined the police force and your own career began, what were your impressions of the job?
Like many young adults with no personal access to anybody who was already a police officer, my impressions of police, their culture and attitudes was gained primarily from television: an organisation that encourages and supports it’s police to pursue criminals relentlessly, irrespective of cost or resources required.
At what age did you join? How long were you part of the police force?
I joined the NSW Police Force in my early twenties and resigned in my late thirties. My tour of duty commenced prior to the Royal Commission into the NSW Police, allowing me to observe the organisation’s culture transition from one in which corruption was prevalent into something quite unexpected but now jealously guarded.
I found it interesting that the Royal Commission did nothing to change police attitudes, culture and performance toward victims of crime, instead it merely offered alternatives which enabled the long-held attitudes to be further in-grained and practiced.
Was there ever anything else you considered doing? Why did you take that final step to joining up?
Like many young adults from low socio-economic backgrounds who attended public primary and high schools with poor track records of performance, job prospects were limited, meaning aspirations were as well. Policing was the most attractive and attainable prospect available to me at the time when considered against other options such as trade qualifications. Needless to say, aspirations for a career in veterinary science or astrophysics were never a realistic option.
Were you as idealistic as Oscar is?
Yes it is fair to say I was, as were many of the other recruits in my police academy class. The subsequent organisational indoctrination process was not just shocking but very disappointing.
A great topical example is domestic violence and the reason it was highlighted in the book. The attitudes and procedural loopholes discussed also explain why the government’s current proposal to introduce a Domestic Violence Offenders Register will not perform as intended and will be compromised from day one.
The police attitude and approach to domestic violence is but one reason the issue has grown to such an extend urgent action is required. Domestic violence offenders have for too long enjoyed no or minimal consequences from the police.
The disturbing approach to domestic violence is only one area where idealism was far removed from reality. Others have also been included in the book in a manner which I hope readers will find entertaining, controversial and confronting.
Oscar’s idealism is slowly stamped out of him in the force, most noticeably by his fellow cops. In fact, besides Oscar, I’m hard-pressed to think of anyone who actually does and acts like I thought a cop should – I assumed this was a choice you made to prove your point about life in the force, but I can’t say I’m sure about that! It presents a dark picture of the people the public trusts to do the right thing. Should it erode the trust the public has in the police force?
T.J.F. Syndrome offers a generalised view of the attitudes and organisational practices that permeate the actions of many police. There are of course exceptions and many examples of genuine dedicated police who resist the syndrome. The point however, is that police practices have become so refined that police can either offer genuine assistance, or partake in one of many rituals that simply appears to offer genuine assistance to victims but is instead intentionally designed to completely avoid or minimise their follow up and workload, with the victim of crime totally oblivious but left totally frustrated.
T.J.F. Syndrome was not written to erode the public’s trust in police, rather it was written to educate the public and victims of crime and enable them to distinguish when they are receiving genuine service as opposed to ‘lip service’.
There are many ‘procedural’ myths regarding what police can and can’t do, the degree of assistance that they are and are not able to provide, and what victims of crime can and cannot expect. By exposing these myths through fictional characters encountering common situations, it is hoped the reader is educated while entertained.
It is important to remember that many police are merely behaving in accordance with the organisational indoctrination they have received since leaving the police academy. The organisation’s management practices, policies and procedures all conspire to encourage the ‘work avoidance’ culture and the book outlines how and why this occurs.
Given your authority and experience as a police officer, and that you are leaving it up to the reader to decide what is fact or fiction, were you ever concerned about the effect this book could have on the “Oscars” in the police force right now?
Absolutely – this book is written for victims of crime and the ‘Oscars’ in the NSW Police Force! The indoctrination process is powerful and convincing. One of the most effective means of breaking the indoctrination process is through education.
By educating the public and victims of crime about their rights and the obligations of police to assist them, police will find it increasingly difficult to partake of the work avoidance rituals upon which many rely on so heavily.
For the ‘Oscars’ out there, T.J.F. Syndrome offers some hope: an awareness that many others have travelled Oscars path (with the exception of the twist at the end of course) and that public awareness of the syndrome is the first step to eliminating it, enabling the idealistic form of policing to take root and prosper.
What made you decide to take the final step to writing about your experiences in the force?
There are a number of factors that influenced my decision to write T.J.F. Syndrome:
Firstly, T.J.F. Syndrome as a subject matter had not been written about previously, providing me the opportunity to offer readers something new, topical and controversial.
Secondly, change in organisations like the NSW Police rarely occurs from within but must be imposed from external forces (eg Royal Commissions, Coroners Court recommendations, media pressure and lawsuits). There exists an opportunity to publicise the issue, thereby initiating the first steps toward corrective action.
Have you had any feedback about the book from your former colleagues?
Feedback from former colleagues (consisting of both former and current police) has been overwhelmingly positive. The depiction of T.J.F. Syndrome, through the fictional characters and the circumstances they encounter, has never been articulated this way previously.
Interestingly, feedback from those still in a fear-based management organisation also incorporates concerns about possible repercussions about airing ‘dirty little secrets’.
In due course, the issues identified in the book will no doubt seep into mainstream public debate and victims of crime, and current and former police will answer the challenge to differentiate what is fiction and what is not.
Is “TJF Syndrome” real?
T.J.F. Syndrome is very real. Although in the book it is offered as something police come to discover (or have revealed to them) in the course of their career, it is actually something police college students are warned about. It is generally offered as an explanation for the actions and attitudes of recalcitrant officers who have lost perspective and take their employment for granted. Most police find this explanation very much at odds with what they encounter in the workplace.
T.J.F. Syndrome is not unique to the NSW Police and is evident in other emergency service organisations, sometimes referred to in the more family friendly version – T.J.S. (The Job’s Stuffed).
Some will no doubt recognise components of the syndrome in their own workplace, but there would be few organisations like the NSW Police in which it has become the overwhelmingly central influence – an organisation in which the consequences can seriously effect people’s lives.
What is your fondest memory of your time on the force?
There are many specific situations and circumstances one has the privilege to experience as a police officer – things the public never gets to see. My fondest memory however is not of a particular job but rather of the camaraderie. It is a distinct perk of any occupation that involves dealing with life-threatening situations through the obligatory need to trust those you work with. It is common within all emergency services and the defence forces and is something worth experiencing – even if only for a short time.
What do you think of TJF Syndrome? And David’s thoughts on life in the police force?
