Members of State Corrections Local 105 who participated in the peer liaison train-
ing on May 19 in Bordentown with Dr. Michael Bizzarro of the PBA Clinical Services
team and Ken Burkert, former chair of the PBA’s Peer Assistance Committee.
Handling with care
State Corrections Local 105 trains members to provide
peer assistance and reach out to ‘Brothers’ and ‘Sisters’
who feel they have nowhere to turn
n BY MITCHELL KRUGEL
Another state corrections officer recently succumbed to
the unfathomable anguish bubbling over from daily confine-
ment and daily doses of extreme trauma that led to taking
his own life. Only corrections officers know this loneliness of
walking the jail beat. Of feeling there is nobody they can turn
to for help. Of not being able to find another way out.
But you are not alone. There will be more and more broth-
ers and sisters to talk to, now that State Corrections Local 105
is building a network of peer-to-peer counselors. “Brother’s
Keepers,” and “Sister’s,” too, replicating the program that the
NJ State PBA has developed in so many counties and Locals
throughout the state.
On May 19 in Bordentown, Local 105 members gathered
for a peer liaison training session. The group included the Lo-
cal 105 Institutional Vice Presidents (IVPs) stationed at the 15
state corrections facilities and took on such importance that
a handful of members volunteered to attend, including sever-
al who came right off working the midnight tour.
Dr. Michael Bizzarro, from the NJ State PBA’s Clinical Ser-
vices team and the Director of Clinical Services for First Re-
sponder Treatment at Princeton House Behavioral Health, led
the training at the request of Local 105 President Brain Ren-
shaw and Executive Vice President Sean Sprich. Ken Burkert,
the Senior Outreach Coordinator for the Princeton House
First Responder Treatment Team who founded the PBA’s Peer
Liaison team and is also a retired corrections officer, joined
Dr. B to bring lifesaving tools and techniques to members
who have been waiting for and wanting such help.
The eight-hour session, as well as a four-hour session for
recruits on June 1 at the State Corrections Officers Academy
in Sea Girt, are prominent manifestations of how Renshaw
and his leadership team have established mental health and
wellness as the most vital need for Local 105 members.
“We’ve developed a program throughout our institutions,
and we’re trying to make it bigger so our members know there
is somebody here for you,” Renshaw instructed. “You know
how it is with law enforcement. We think we can handle any-
thing. But you know what, we can’t.”
Sprich specified that the training sessions aimed to raise
awareness about the “100 reasons to drink” for a correc-
tions officer. Or do drugs. Or engage in other behaviors that
can lead to addiction, ruin families, obliterate finances and
worse. He knows that pain, having been sober now for more
than 600 days and counting.
And since he came on to the Local 105 Executive Board
nearly a year ago, Sprich has been advocating to build re-
CONTINUED ON PAGE 40
www.njcopsmagazine.com
■ JULY 2017 39