HEALTH & WELLNESS
Calling all cops:
Cop 2 Cop needs retirees
to volunteer
A lot has changed in 17 years at Cop 2 Cop, and
so has the demand for our services, so I thought
I would use this article in an attempt to draw in
retired law enforcement officers to do some good
work as part of their retirement plan.
At Cop 2 Cop, we have been receiving the same
funding since 2000, but the needs of the law en-
forcement officers for peer support continues to
CHERIE
increase, so we need your help. We are planning
CASTELLANO
to host an event in 2017 to engage retired officers
Cop2Cop
from around the state, as well as host a “QPR for
Retired Law Enforcement Officers” class so we
can use the wisdom of our retires to promulgate the “brother’s
keeper” model of suicide prevention.
In addition, we find that retired law enforcement officers are
a living guide to resilience as we are developing a “Cop 2 Cop
Resilience training” and doing a pilot in Middlesex County in
November 2017.
Besides my shameless plug asking for help, I do want to say
that after 17 years working with retired cops at Cop 2 Cop, most
of them love working here and started as volunteers. They get to
avoid the “honey-do” lists that they get from their wives when
they first retire, and they love being around brother and sister
law enforcement professionals — because apparently most of
you do not like civilians after 25 years of service!
The model of peer support that I have designed, which is now
recognized as a “national best practice,” is called “Reciprocal
Peer Support,” because the peers say they get more than they
give from this work.
Please let us know if we can use your gifts or talents to help
other cops by calling 866-267-2267. Give us your name and
number, so we can invite you to join us and see if it’s a good fit
for you.
In an article by Bart Proctor from April titled “The Four Rea-
sons Cops Retire Before You,” Proctor says he often hears, “It’s
just not fair that cops retire before me.” Proctor adds, “I’m sure
you have heard the old saying ‘if I had a nickel for every time
(insert witty, sometimes arrogant remark here)!’ Well, here it
comes again. If I had a nickel for every time someone said how
lucky I am to be able to retire at age 50! I usually respond with
a smile and patronize them with ‘if you say so’ or even better,
‘you’re right, I’m one lucky dog.’”
What do you think?
Are you lucky to retire at such an early age? Do you deserve
to retire at an age, well before most are allowed to get their gold
watch?
These thoughts quickly vanish as you may contemplate the
absurdity of these questions.
According to Proctor, here are just four reasons why cops get
to retire “so young”:
1. The stress. You would think that this one would be a
no-brainer. There are people out there that think they have
stressful jobs. Unless you are a front-line combat grunt,
air-traffic controller or a sky-diving instructor. Everyone
else, please sit down. “But you don’t know man, I’ve got
deadlines and a lot of pressure on me at my job, why do
cops retire before I get to?” And I get that. I really do. But
c’mon, man. I will spare everyone the same ole ‘we face
armed felons and don’t know if we are going home at the
end of our shift mantra.’ It should be blatantly obvious to
everyone. Oh and I’m quite sure if you screw up, or have
a perceived screw up, at work it won’t cause the city you
work in to riot or change your industry’s culture on a global
level. Just sayin’.
2. The schedule. It sucks. I’m not talking about the Moth-
ershippers (cops who work at police headquarters). I’m
talking about cops. Detectives. The grunts of police work.
It absolutely kills me when citizens ask, and I’m not mak-
ing this up, if we are open on Sundays. This is why I know
that there will always be a fantastically wide disconnect
between us and your average Joe. I have worked days
and nights, holidays, birthdays, elections, hurricanes, bliz-
zards, ice storms and high school football games. I have
worked 30 hours without sleep and have come back to
work 20 more with only two hours of sleep in between. Oh,
and then I go to court on my days off.
3. The uniform. I distinctly remember getting into my car
and driving to work in full uniform one day. I had been a de-
tective for several years prior to this day and had decided
that I wanted to go back to uniform patrol. I was beginning
to doubt my decision with every passing second during
my drive in that morning. I had forgotten how ridiculously
uncomfortable it was wearing a bulletproof vest and 30
pounds of police gear. I remember being sore for a week
until my body became used to wearing all of it again. It is
nice to see that police departments are now going to outer
vests and suspenders. Hopefully this will alleviate all of the
back problems that al