You are a counselor for a major metropolitan police force. Your job is to interview persons who are referred to you by superiors, who voluntarily come to you for counseling, or who, because of a specific incident, are mandated by departmental regulations to seek your counsel. On the last four callouts over the past 6 weeks, three of them have resulted in the offender being shot to death by your unit’s sniper. You are scheduled to speak with him this week about his feelings concerning the shootings. You received a call from his wife the night before last. It seems that the sniper has taken to sleeping in the living room and not in his bedroom. His wife has been unable to convince him to sleep in bed with her for the past month. He claims that he has headaches and goes to sleep on the couch. After the last mission in which he had to shoot a suspect, the team went to a local bar that they patronize. The sniper reportedly got drunk and, while hugging another member of the team, he started crying about the three men that he had to shoot over the past six weeks. The next day, he acted like the crying incident did not happen. He either forgot it in the alcohol haze, or pretended not to remember it.

In a callout last night, the sniper and his partner took up a position at the rear of a house where home invaders were barricaded. At one point, an offender exited the back door with a gun in his hand. The sniper stood up in the open and walked right up to the offender, who was dazed at the sniper’s behavior. The sniper struck the weapon from the offender’s hand with the butt of his rifle, and then knocked him to the ground, where he placed him in handcuffs. Although it initially seemed to be a brave act, it violated all protocol to break cover, and it risked the sniper, his partner, and the offender’s life.

You have a decision to make at this point. In a 3–5 page paper, respond to the following:

• Describe the mental state of the sniper since the three shootings have occurred in which he killed the offenders.
• Articulate two of the possible personality disorders or afflictions that the sniper has that are interfering with his work.
• Explain whether, if the sniper would get the treatment needed, he might be able to return to his duties as a sniper, or possibly back to regular uniformed duties.
• Relate how treatment of the sniper would benefit him as an individual in terms of his interpersonal relationships and his own safety.