Saturday I walked into the report room a couple of different times and the room was filled with the sounds of laughter. That was such a great sound to hear! It’s a sound I hear fairly regularly, but this time it was especially good. This weekend was the first weekend of Mardi Gras here in Galveston. For most it meant good food, time with friends, parades, beads, and more! For the officers and dispatchers it meant long hours, lots of calls, and potential for things to get out of hand.
Most Mardi Gras weekends and other big events take place with only minor situations and remain fairly manageable, but you can’t assume they will always be that way. You have to prepare and plan for the worst to happen. One of those plans is to have the specialized divisions fully staffed and operational. That means all of the officers on SWAT and all of those on SRG (Special Response Group) are working in the event area (the strand) and all of the motorcycle officers are riding with the parade. It even takes bringing in outside agencies to add extra manpower and support. With those officers working that part of the event, it takes other officers to fill the positions to patrol the streets and take care of calls outside of the event area. For that to happen, officers have to work extra hours or have to come in on their day off. Then there are many other locations that hire officers to work specifically for them, so those are more hours to be put in. And for the dispatchers, they are taking extra calls with all of the extra people on the island and then are monitoring radio traffic from the event area and from those patrolling the streets. In other words, there is a lot going on for these first responders.
This gets me back to why it was so good to hear the laughter. All of the hours and the potential for things to happen can definitely wear on the officers and dispatchers. Of course, I’m sure this is true for many others working Mardi Gras, but these are the people I get to work alongside. One time I walked into the report room and found several of the SWAT guys who had come back to the station for a bit. As they were waiting for what they needed, they started telling stories and laughing pretty hard. It was so fun to see them interact that way and be reminded that they were going to get through the weekend together. It’s also nice to know that they have spaces in the busyness to be able to let their guard down and be silly for a few minutes. Apparently I came in just after some shenanigans that took place, which definitely added to the laughter.
After that I went up to take some snacks to the dispatchers and heard them laughing through some of their work day too. Of course they weren’t laughing at the serious calls that came in, but did take some time to laugh at the silly things that people called in. Then, as with any good family, they were also laughing a bit at each other.
When I came back to prepare to ride with night shift, I walked into the report room to laughter again, some of it was definitely from being delirious by this point. The daytime officers were finishing up reports and telling stories of the day and the nighttime officers were preparing to go on. It was awesome to see them enjoying those few moments and laughing through the stress and the tiredness. It’s almost like the weight of the day and the anticipation of what was to come that night paused for a moment for them to just be. For a second they didn’t have to be overly aware of what was going on around them and they didn’t have to rush off to the next call. Sometimes those moments are filled with silence or even the clicks of reports being typed on the computer, but this moment was laughter and it was so good!
This trend continued through other moments of the weekend too. I spent some time at the command post downtown and found plenty of laughter there. The command post is a respite in the midst of the crazy. It’s a spot where the officers can come for a moment and let their guard down. They can grab something to eat or drink or just use a real bathroom in peace. They congregate there after they’ve finished a parade or to prepare for whatever is next. Laughter at the command post is so good because it keeps everyone going through the long hours. This was true for the command post for the mounted officers too. I got to see them Sunday afternoon right before their final ride for the weekend. They were mostly worn out this late in the weekend, but there were still moments where they could laugh a little at each other!
It’s often said that laughter is the best medicine and I fully agree. I truly believe it makes a difference in their mental state and makes it easier to keep doing their job. Robert Frost even says, “If we couldn’t laugh, we would all go insane.” Their job requires them to be so alert and on their toes and they really need ways to break that up. Without each other and without safe spaces to laugh, they really would go insane. Now, sometimes the laughter comes out at some inopportune times, but, even then, I would still argue that it’s better than no laughter. I think laughter is such a good reminder of the humanity behind first responders too. They often have to carry themselves and act in certain ways. When they tell crazy stories and laugh with each other, they get a moment to get in touch with their humanity rather than the uniform. I think sometimes it even gets them back in touch with some of those childhood giggles and that is so fun to hear from all of the “tough police officers.” Mimi Novic says, “Laughter with those that understand us is music for the soul.” I know it certainly does my heart good when I see them laughing together, so I imagine it does a lot of good for their souls.