While the funeral and burial ofDetective Sgt. James L. Allen provided a measure of emotional closure, some Providence police officers will need more time to get over the tragedy.

08:51 AM EDT on Tuesday, April 26, 2005

BY GREGORY SMITH
Journal Staff Writer

PROVIDENCE -- Shocked and appalled by the slaying of a popular detective inside police headquarters, many police officers are only now beginning to regain their equilibrium.

The Police Department remains gloomy.

Several police officers said yesterday that last week's funeral service and burial of Detective Sgt. James L. Allen will provide solace to many. But some officers see the emotional recovery as more a journey than an occurrence.

"I don't see this department getting better anytime soon," said Patrolman Michael A. Matracia. "I think that we're just at the beginning of this."

About 100 of the 488 officers have spoken to members of the department's Peer Support Unit about Allen's slaying, according to Sgt. Michael Wheeler and Patrolman Clarence W. Gough Jr., two of the unit members.

The unit, bolstered by mental-health organizations and similar units from a host of other law enforcement agencies, is trying to give the officers perspective on the tragedy and an opportunity to vent in one-on-one and small-group counseling sessions.

"Everyone in the Peer Support Unit has shoulders [to cry on] for the rest of our guys," Wheeler said.

Allen was killed in a conference room in the detective bureau April 17 when he was alone with a suspect during questioning about a stabbing. Suspect Esteban Carpio allegedly wrestled Allen's gun away and shot him twice. Carpio, of Roslindale, Mass., a section of Boston, is being held at the Adult Correctional Institutions on a murder charge.

"This is an event that has changed life in this building and life on this job forever," Gough declared. "People are going to look back and ponder what-ifs for the next 20 to 30 years."

Unit members would not say whether any distraught officers have been relieved of duty or how many members have been referred to mental-health experts for professional counseling. The unit thrives on confidentiality, Wheeler said, and even quantifying the referrals might lead one of those affected to feel as if his or her confidence was violated.

While the funeral and burial provide a measure of emotional closure, some officers will need more time to get over the tragedy, Matracia said.

Patrolman Anthony Teixeira Jr., a 19-year veteran who knew Allen on a wave-and-a-nod basis, said, "Everybody processes grief differently. Some guys take it harder than others."

"This one happened right here in our building, our home, so it's definitely going to have a lasting impression," Teixeira said.

The Peer Support Unit had "a great response" Saturday for its family day at the Public Safety Complex, according to Wheeler and Gough. Members of the families of the department's uniformed and civilian employees were invited to learn how they can help their loved ones cope with Allen's death.

Wheeler, who declined to say how many came, said the measure of the event's success is not how many attended but what they derived from it. On that basis, he pronounced it "a very productive day."

Department members have been gratified by the outpouring of help from outside parties. Most of the effort has come from the department's nine-member Peer Support Unit, whose members, besides Wheeler and Gough, are: Caroline Arias, Kenneth Cohen, Anthony Corsetti, Alyssa DeAndrade, Riggins Jones, Margaret Schlageter and Elizabeth Wajda. Wheeler omitted their ranks in listing them, noting that rank is pointedly irrelevant to the unit's mission.

The unit's founder, retired Detective Sgt. John MacAndrew, was fishing in the Florida Everglades when he heard about Allen's death. He rushed back to volunteer as a counselor.

The outside organizations backing up the Providence unit are the East Providence, Cranston, Warwick, West Warwick, Coventry, Lincoln, Woonsocket and Fall River police support units; the Rhode Island Department of Corrections support unit; Northern Rhode Island Community Services and Partners in Health and Wellness, which are mental-health agencies based, respectively, in Woonsocket and East Providence; and Out of the Blue, a counseling agency run by a retired police officer.

While attendance at a counseling session is not mandatory, according to Wheeler, the Peer Support Unit "strongly recommends" that at least all the uniformed and civilian employees who were on duty the night of the incident come in for a meeting. If they don't want to talk, then at least they can listen, the sergeant said.

The unit's goal, according to Gough, is to get people back to as normal a routine as possible.

"I've been trying to keep focused on work," Matracia said. "But during the course of the day, it pops into my mind."

"I really think it's going to be a while before everyone gets back on track."