A former policeman-turned-author who is determined to raise awareness of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) within the police force will give a special presentation in Dubbo today.
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Paul Horner’s book, Jack Knife: The Crashing of a Policeman, chronicles a career that began with a childhood dream to “grow up and ride a police motorcycle” and ended with his discharge from the NSW Police Force in 2008 after he was diagnosed with PTSD and hospitalised.
Mr Horner’s career included a posting to Bourke, which he describes as a “very violent” town with “an extremely high crime rate”.
The book details the difficulties Mr Horner faced in living in close proximity to the very criminals he dealt with every day, and his frustrations at what he saw as a string of lenient sentences handed down by visiting magistrates.
In the book, Mr Horner recounts criminals turning up at his house challenging him to fights, walking past his house in Bourke, shouting that they would poison his dogs, rape his wife, burn his house down and kill him, and incidents while off-duty in which his car would be surrounded by dozens of juveniles throwing rocks and bottles.
While in Bourke, Mr Horner also suffered major injuries when he was hit in the face by a full stubbie of beer while trying to make an arrest, the attack leaving him with a smashed nose, a tooth missing and a hole in his upper lip.
“This is one of a series of presentations I am doing to introduce people to what PTSD is and my own recommendations about how to cope with it,” he said.
But he said the presentations were not only targeted at police officers.
“PTSD also affects police officers’ families and the community in general,” he said.
Mr Horner said his presentation would give a real insight into the dangers police face on a daily basis.
“They deal with a lot more death and destruction than the average citizen,” he said.
He said his presentations also had the power to challenge negative perceptions that some people held about the police force.
“I did a presentation at Mount Druitt and there was one woman who came along who was really angry at the cops over something that had happened to a family member,” he said.
“By the time she left, she (had) gained a greater understanding of the things police have to go through and developed a very different opinion of police. She ended up buying one of my books.”
Today’s presentation will take place at the Macquarie Regional Library at 1pm, and will be followed by a question and answer session.
Signed copies of Mr Horner’s books will also be available for purchase.
