by David Frattare Front-line supervision reminds me of the garbage masher scene in Star Wars when Luke, Han, Chewie and Princess Leia are about to be crushed by two immense steel walls closing in on them from either side. No matter how high they climb up the pile of garbage, the walls continue to close…

by Alan Flora Some days are better than others, that’s just the way life goes. But so much of our happiness and success is determined by our daily attitudes. One person might begin each morning with enthusiasm, ready to take on the world and make great things happen. Meanwhile, another person is like, “Meh, I’m…

by Beth Medina CEO of The Innocent Justice Foundation My sister made me a bracelet last week. It’s a simple, small beaded bracelet made of colors of my choosing. Because I am a Harry Potter fan and proud of it, I asked for the colors of the Gryffindor House. As she fashioned the bracelet, she…

by Senior Chaplain David Frattere Director of Ohio State Investigations/ICAC Task Force Commander In his letter to the Christians in Ephesus, St. Paul writes that they must “Put on the full armor of God so that you can stand against the tactics of the Devil” and prepare for a “battle against the spiritual forces of…

by Jean G. McAllister, MSW Resilience is the ability to bounce back, or successfully deal with stressful or traumatic experience, without experiencing lasting harm. It is the quality that protects us from being seriously harmed by the work we do with child sexual exploitation and abuse, and the people who harm children. One of the…

by Matthew Kail When I started my law enforcement career twenty-three years ago, I did what every officer fresh out of the academy did, handled your calls for service, was the first on scene to witness horrific incidents, and tried to solve people’s problems in twenty minutes, before the next “hot” call was dispatched.  Officer…

by Michael Sullivan Our job demands that we interact with people on a daily basis. We speak and listen to many different people each day in an effort to obtain the information we need to conduct a successful investigation.  While we may be trained observers and interviewers those skills do not always translate when we…

by Beth Medina It is a basic human drive and need to be connected to others.  Our species’ survival has been successful in part because we have strong communities that provide all manner of safety, security and belonging.  In our SHIFT (Supporting Heroes in Mental Health Foundational Training) program we talk a lot about the…

Sleep – it’s the most affordable and natural method available for us to rebound, helping us to recover and renew ourselves. Yet, with demanding jobs, modern conditions and the vicarious trauma we may be exposed to, the goal of achieving restorative sleep can sometimes be hard-fought. We may settle for resting in bed, wide awake,…

by Sgt Andrew Chaulk The challenges and stress we face investigating child sexual exploitation are many. Significant to crushing caseloads, mountains of paperwork, exposure to child exploitation material on a near daily basis (and for some multiple times a day), executing search warrants, examining mountains of data, interviewing suspects and victims, to name but a…