The NJ Police Chief Magazine Volume 26, Number 3 | Seite 5

The New Jersey Police Chief Magazine | November 2019
FROM THE DESK OF THE PRESIDENT
CHIEF CHRISTOPHER M. LEUSNER
MIDDLE TOWNSHIP PD
I am proud that our Association and previous NJSACOP Presidents have played a part in
the Resiliency Program and Summit convened by our state's Attorney General last month
at the Trenton War Memorial. Executive Director Mitch Sklar and I were there on the first
day and it was nice to see such a huge turnout. I have s poken to many offic ers who
found the training to be very informative and inspiring. The entire Summit is on the
Attorney General’s YouTube channel, and I encourage you to watch when you have some
time. I have shared information about the Summit with all my supervisors and en-
couraged them to view it online as well.
As leaders, we all need to do a better job of equipping our officers with the tools they need to handle a very difficult
job. We all carry with us terrible things that we have seen on the job. There is no bulletproof vest for your heart or
mind, and we continue to lose officers at an alarming rate to suicide.
This is an issue dear to my
heart; tragically, one of my officers committed suicide in 2012. Jason and I attended high school together, attended
the Class II Academy together, and walked the downtown bar district beat together in Wildwood. I still sometimes
can’t believe Jason is not with us, and wish we could have done something to help him. After Jason’s death, I took a
group of informal leaders from my department to visit the Cop2Cop call center, and my entire department
received "Question, Persuade and Refer" training, and each officer received a copy of the book "Emotional Survival
for Law Enforcement" by Dr. Kevin Gilmartin. I wasn’t sure what to do, but I felt like I needed to do something as
the Chief.
Those steps were important but I wish this Resiliency program was in place back in 2012. The Resiliency program is
very comprehensive and models a program from the military and FBI National Academy Associates. When I talk to
my officers who attended the summit, I can see it in their faces and hear it in their voices: the training has made a
significant impact. I have no doubt this program will make a difference, but it needs your leadership as Chief to
make it work. We as Chiefs of Police must make it a priority to embrace the program and communicate on a regular
basis that asking for help is a show of strength, not weakness. I know many of you will set the tone as leaders, and
together we will change the culture here in New Jersey and save lives.
Be Safe,
Christopher M. Leusner
President, NJSACOP
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