In this week's episode, we touch on a theme common to our show: the psychological toll exacted on cops who witness extreme violence while on the job. In "Butch and Sundance," Officers Cooper and Sherman are the first to arrive at the scene of a brutal triple murder. Without revealing too many plot details, suffice it to say that both officers suffer psychologically from witnessing such a horrific event. Cops have a variety of ways of dealing with trauma, and Officer Cooper's behavior embodies many of them. Repression, displacement, and the use of gallows humor are among the coping mechanisms employed. Sadly, however, these mechanisms are often not enough. In the U.S., two-thirds of officers involved in shootings suffer moderate to severe problems and 70 percent of them leave the force within seven years of the incident. In other words, if Ben Sherman were real, his participation in the "officer-involved shooting" in the pilot would mean he runs a very strong chance of not being a cop in the near future.

Southland is not real, of course. Our main characters experience extreme situations (shootings, car chases, murders, etc) on a weekly basis. In reality, these officers would never encounter these circumstances with such frequency. However, we show these acts for a reason. They help create compelling television (we hope), but they also highlight a fundamental difference between cops and the general public. Cops see the world differently from most of us civilians because they experience the world differently.

Luckily, the vast majority of us have never personally witnessed a violent crime. We have never seen a murder victim lying dead on the ground in front of us, blood oozing from his skull. We are largely insulated from the darkest side of human nature, and for that we ought to be grateful. It is not pleasant to contemplate the fact that you or your loved one could be murdered at any moment.

Instead, most of us experience brutal, horrific violence only through the media filter: TV news and scripted "fake violence" on TV shows (like Southland) or in movies. This violence will never be as truly terrifying and disturbing to us as the real thing because it is not personally experienced; it is just a shared piece of entertainment or news for all of us to consume as a society. And too often, real violence as seen on the local news has become a punch line for us — an opportunity to make a sarcastic crack at the victim's or suspect's (or police officer's) expense. Near the end of "Butch and Sundance" there is a scene where Ben Sherman goes to dinner with his wealthy sisters, and it clearly exposes this rift between cops and civilians.

Cops know the darker side of human nature all too well. It surrounds them, from petty crimes all the way up to murder and rape. It is a burden they carry with them always, the sad knowledge that we humans are deeply flawed creatures capable of despicable acts. I know I could never actually be a cop because I couldn't shoulder this burden, but I thank God that there are men and women out there who are willing to do so. They keep us safe.