ABSTRACT
Emotional Health and Concerns ...................................................................... 142 Showing Weakness ............................................................................................. 143 Asking for Help ................................................................................................... 144 An Officer Not Getting the Help He Needs .................................................... 145 An Officer Seeking Psychiatric Assistance ...................................................... 148 If an Officer Enters a Mental Health Facility or Psychiatric Ward ............... 149 Symptoms of Mental Illness .............................................................................. 150 Risk Assessment.................................................................................................. 152 Personal Concerns and Behavioral Intervention ........................................... 152 Resilience ............................................................................................................. 154 Police versus Fireman ........................................................................................ 156 Importance of Peer Support .............................................................................. 157 “Peer Support for Public Safety” by William Hogewood .............................. 159 Train the Trainer ................................................................................................. 160 Personal Early Warning System ........................................................................ 160 Make it Safe Program ..........................................................................................161 Chiefs Lead the Way ........................................................................................... 163 Reference ............................................................................................................. 166
Father Tony Pizzo* noted that being a police officer is a difficult job, especially when officers are dealing with criminal activity, drugs, and gangs on a daily basis. Law enforcement officers are constantly bombarded with negative behaviors and it plays on their emotional health. People are always yelling, accusing officers of arriving late on call or for police misconduct. Many officers personify and project the attitude of being tough. This macho behavior and hard-line assertiveness of “you can’t get to me” can only last so long. In reality, that arrogance has to affect them; everyone has a breaking point. That constant pressure is not good: officers must find a release, to reorient themselves in some way. It is difficult to live a normal life when a person has that much stress in his life. It affects his professional and personal life, marriage, spouse, everyone. They are carrying emotional baggage with them constantly. When officers become distressed and cannot deal with the pressure of life anymore, that is when they feel the only option is suicide.
