Police Departments Must take An Active Role in Officer Violence
Law Enforcement agencies across the country must begin to develop new strategies when dealing with officer violence within police homes and personal relationships. When Departments look away and a tragedy happens, they too, must be held accountable, they too have committed a crime when they allow officers to get away with criminal behavior. In the new year the justice department must take a more active role in law enforcment and accountability efforts so that we reduce officer on officer crimes and those within police families. What the following study doesn't offer is real solutions. Officers take their lives because of unrealistic expectations of their jobs, family problems, drinking (I call it hand to mouth combat) these are just a few. I appauld the Critical Incident Supporrt Team, but much,much more needs to be done Nationwide. In working with families of police officers for over 15 years and learning from my Mothers own tragic death by a man, who just happned to be my father,a Chicago Violent Crimes Detective, sworn to serve and protect who then took his own life. I have seen little changes in real support and assistance for all police officers who give their lives to serve their communities for all of us each and every day.
...According to research at Radford University in Virginia, suicide among law enforcement professionals is 52 percent higher than in the general population. Drs. Michael Aamodt and Nicole Stalnaker found that 26.6 percent of police suicides are due to relationship problems. A large number of them, 12.3 percent, turn into murder-suicides...
This article is out of Maryland
Support team helps police deal with stresses of job
12/29/05
12/29/05
Owings Mills Times
By Louis Llovio
By Louis Llovio
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Franklin Precinct's Lt. Mike Baylog has to deal with the everyday stress that goes along with being a cop. As leader of the county's Critical Incident Support Team, he helps carry the burden of other police officers, as well.
Through the team, Baylog counsels officers who must deal with the death of a fellow officer, with officers who have trouble handling violent deaths in the community and with cops who have faced life-threatening confrontations.
But losing one of their own - as the Baltimore City Police Department did Dec. 21 when two officers were killed- is one of the toughest parts of the job.
Baylog remembers when the Franklin Precinct experienced the death of a fellow officer and friend. It was Morris Barksdale, a father of four and a 15-year veteran of the Baltimore County police, who was killed in a motorcycle accident July 2 in Essex.
Baylog, a 16-year veteran of the Baltimore County Police Department, describes the fraternity of police officers as a "brotherhood and sisterhood." Losing someone like Barksdale was "devastating to the unit."
"We're significantly closer than other co- workers" in other fields, he said. "We're all living through this (police work) together. When you go into a dangerous situation, you rely on them as your backup."
Because of the nature of the job, he said, the bond officers develop is akin to what soldiers feel toward other soldiers in their unit.
When an officer witnesses a death in the community they serve, or when a co-worker is killed in the line of duty, the randomness puts police officers on edge, reminding them how their lives are always in danger.
"We like things to make sense," Baylog said, and sometimes the death does not make sense. "We can't control nature, but you'd like to think you can help another human."
That's when Baylog and the 13 other members of the Critical Incident Support Team step in.
All Baltimore County police officers have access to Baylog's support team. Sometimes officers' commanders put troubled officers in touch with the team.
But "most guys just come up and tell us they need help," Baylog said.
He describes the work the unit does as a "first-aid counseling."
Many officers suffer nightmares, have mood swings, relive the experience over and over or have problems sleeping after an incident.
"Some cops think they're going nuts. But they're just having normal reactions," Baylog said. The support team explains that what they are going through is normal. Eventually, most settle down, Baylog said.
But occasionally the support team identifies deeper, long-term issues in the officers they counsel. In those cases, they recommend to officers where in the community health care system they can get help.
The difficult work the unit does is compounded by the fact that police officers, because of the stress the job puts on them and their relationships, have higher suicide rates than people in other professions.
According to research at Radford University in Virginia, suicide among law enforcement professionals is 52 percent higher than in the general population.
Drs. Michael Aamodt and Nicole Stalnaker found that 26.6 percent of police suicides are due to relationship problems.
A large number of them, 12.3 percent, turn into murder-suicides.
But Baylog believes that cops, if they find ways to talk about their problems and unload their burdens, can be healthy.
"We're cops," he laughs. "We don't want to talk to shrinks."
For most, they don't have to. Other cops are there to listen.
