About this project
The Heavy Badge
Police officers carry a heavy badge. Their job is to help the world, but they must do it while interacting with some of the worst people on earth. They enforce rules that they did not make and sometimes have to ruin a person's dreams with their actions. They live in the spilth of human life and somehow have to be above it all or risk having a second of their interaction caught on video resulting in them being criticized and maligned.
Additionally, they go from extreme to extreme. Sometimes they are bored stiff and in a moments notice they must travel 500 miles an hour. Being on the job can affect a person's viewpoint of the world, a person's personal life and a person's capacity to make relationships with others.
Inside Police Psychology
In 2014, Dr. Gary Aumiller developed Inside Police Psychology, an organization connecting theories, applications and advancements in psychology to the men and women in law enforcement. He brought together prominent psychologists, leaders in policing and other guest writers to publish weekly blog posts with some videos. Over the past couple of months, our readers and viewers have gone from hundreds to tens of thousands of people in and outside the United States. Officers reach out to us every week to say how much the site has helped them in areas of stress management, leadership, trauma and more. Generous support from our current partners and supporters helped launch the blog into what it is today and we need your help to take the next step!
About the Campaign
We are expanding our content to go beyond blog articles into webcasts and online training. We are building an online community for public safety personnel to support each other through rough times and good times by using the tools of psychology to make them better and more aware. Funding is the lifeblood of any organization and we are no exception. Your contributions will be put towards the necessary equipment for filming, efforts to attract more police officers to our blog, staffing to maintain the website, marketing, and managing our partnerships around the world.
The Thin Blue Mind Courses break new ground, rising from psychologist’s office into the public where advancements in mental health can be shared anywhere in the world with those who need it most. Experience shows that our services are in great demand in the police community and we hope to get started with web-based courses immediately.
Courses Planned
- Panic/Anxiety Attacks
- Inconsistency of Eyewitness Testimony
- Stress I: Institutional Stress
- Stress II: Operational Stress
- Stress III: Traumatic Stress
- Stress IV: Lifestyle Stress
- Rumors and Urban Legends in Police and Corrections
- Domestic Violence in the Ranks
- Police and First Responder Suicide
- Open Heart Surgery In Public Safety
- Keeping It Simple as a Public Safety Officer
- PTSD in First Responders
- Divorce in First Responders
- From Military to Public Safety: The Contrasting, Yet Similar Lifestyle
- Psychological Preparation for Special Units and Assignments
- Building Morale and Motivation
- Heart Health and Being a First Responder
Why the Need for Web Courses
The world has changed, and we are trying at Thin Blue Mind Courses to match that change. While the world has been living on YouTube videos and webinar programs for education, there has never been such a such a service particularly for public safety personnel and their health and well-being. It's like we have taken our warriors and thrown them aside for entertainment and frivolity, and not helped that officer who is down or having a panic attack. Perhaps one video could help an officer keep his job, or keep an officer from swallowing his gun, or stop an officer from having a heart attack, or stop a panic attack, or mend irritable bowel syndrome. Or, maybe stop an officer from using his hands when it is not necessary. Helping this segment of the population helps us all.
And in truth, most of the seminars will be techniques that are not specific to law enforcement. The edutainment and motivational style will leave lasting memories and make the techniques ones a person wants to try. And they work to alleviate the pain and aggravation of whatever topic we are talking about. Dr. Aumiller has a way of presenting that can help all people in uniform and without a uniform. The webcasts will be offered to all, as anyone can benefit from the techniques. We expect, however, that most of our viewers initially will be from law enforcement because after 32 years in the population, they have built up the trust for Dr. Aumiller and his list of guest authors, presenters, and developers. But just as with the website Inside Police Psychology, anyone can join and learn.
Ways Your Money Will Be Spent
Video Camera Cannon XA10 w/ tripod and setups $1800
Shotgun Microphone Rode w/ Boom $400
Studio setup for classes $700
Dedicated computer system capable of
webcasting and video editing $2500
Course LMS Software 6 months/
Whiteboard animation software $1250
Video Software/video packages/titler program
Animations and Artwork $300
Advertising $500
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Total $7450
Risks and challenges
* We are going to try and get POST credits (Police Officer Standards and Training) across the states for the courses so police officers can get education credits for the webcasts. This will be speculative until a course is able to be shown to the POST people.
** As the Inside Police Psychology site has currently 950 international subscribers and that will increase, the courses will be careful to play to an international and culturally diverse crowd. This will be a special challenge.
***All courses will be offered after the original broadcast in recorded form.
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Funding period
- (40 days)