HEALTH & WELLNESS
A matter of life and death … and officer safety and wellness
CHERIE CASTELLANO Cop2Cop
A troubling increase was brought to my attention when I recently participated in a national task force on law enforcement wellness. It was a matter of life and death.
While officers die in traffic-related incidents more than in any other situation, this year, the deaths of officers by guns has climbed to a“ troubling” number.
From Jan. 1 to March 30, 2017, 10 on-duty officers were shot dead. In the same time period this year, 20 on-duty officers were shot dead.
As ABC News reported, Steve Groeninger, senior director of communications and marketing at the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund, said,“ I do worry about these firearm-related deaths. It’ s troubling. It’ s too soon to know if it’ s a trend. As( the second quarter) plays out and we receive data forms from departments who lost an officer this year, we’ ll be able to better assess and quantify.”
In 2017, 46 on-duty officers were killed by guns, according to the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund. The year before, it was 67, and in 2015, it was 43.
If this year’ s pattern continues at its current rate, 2018 could see 80 on-duty police deaths from gun violence.
Former FBI agent and ABC News contributor Steve Gomez called the increase from 2017 to 2018“ disturbing.”
“ This is a trend that we are seeing with regard to people acting out, people not having self-control, especially when dealing with law enforcement officers. I think it’ s a symptom of both that lack of control and complying with law enforcement and we are now seeing more people who have( behavioral and mental problems) and they have access to firearms,” Gomez said.“ That’ s a deadly combination.”
What are the implications to your mental health and wellness if an ambush or an untoward event is more likely in 2018? Traditional police work is embedded with risk and violence; however, this is different.
At Cop2Cop, we hear from officers in our peer counseling program that they are aware of the public scrutiny or disdain for their everyday work, and it is another stressor. Even your tactical responses can be impacted by scenarios that we see weekly regarding officers getting ambushed or targeted on the news.
Last year, we at Cop2Cop had visitors from South Korea’ s law enforcement leadership, as they were interested in using us as a model. Their cultural views were fascinating in contrast to ours.
A recent article investigated:“ Do police officers and firefighters have a higher risk of disease than other public officers? A 13-year nationwide cohort study in South Korea.” The article explains that the work of public officers involves repeated and long-term exposure to heavy workloads, high job strain and workplace violence, all of which negatively impact physical and mental health. This study aimed to evaluate and compare the incidences of diseases among different categories of public officers in South Korea in order to further understand the health risks associated with these occupations.
Overall, they found that law enforcement officers and firefighters had a higher incidence of a range of diseases when compared with national and regional government officers( NRG). The most prominent risks were observed among law enforcement officers for angina pectoris, acute myocardial disease and cerebrovascular disease.
As a result of all this information, a few things are clear. Officers may be more at risk than ever of being in harm’ s way. If the ambush or antagonist is not the cause, just the threat that you may be targeted will affect your physical health.
At Cop2Cop in 2018 – in addition to hiring 10 new staff members and transforming our peer program into a peer prevention / training unit, a peer telephone counseling intervention unit and a peer debriefing crisis response unit – we want to integrate supporting your mental and physical health.
Starting in September, we will begin to explore physical health issues when you call Cop2Cop and how they relate to your stress. This way, we can direct you to health and wellness resources to improve the overall quality of your life.
You protect and serve the community. Cop2Cop will protect and serve you. Call 866-267-2267. �
www. njcopsmagazine. com ■ JUNE 2018 87