During my 23 years as a Police Officer from the oldschool you didnt see that but now you do. You see that probably because of social media and more exposures to a bad health can do to you. I think also young officers are more apt to go for psychological help if they need it. Again the oldschool probably not so much. One of the sad things i have seen in my research into ptsd is that when they look up a mortality studies of Police Officers, Police Officers compared to the general population die at a younger age. Some 10 years younger on average than those in the general population. So we are seeing greater numbers of death of cardiovascular disease among younger officers which is kind of surprising and kind of shocking. The thing you should understand about stress is its cumulative as you are continually exposed to trauma day after day and stress day after day eventually is going to wear your system down. Some of our Research Shows for example the body becomes this regulated under chroni
Over 146 officer fatalities per year. That is a shocking number. One officer killed somewhere in america every 60 hours. All right. But the good news is that numbers are going down. If you go back to the 1970s we were averaging 231 officers killed in the line of duty each and every year. That means the 146 number i cited is 37 lower than it was 40 years ago. That is at a time we have double number of officers serving and putting themselves at risk. Would you have expected that number would have gone up, not down. There are a number of factors that are responsible for that and i have enumerated some of them in my written testimony. I want to just spend a moment though reemphasizing the leadership that the attorney general of the United States eric holder, has focused on issue of officer safety and wellness. Im not sure he is getting enough credit for his leadership. Just a few years ago, when deaths were spiking, 171 officers killed in 2011 he held a summit in his office with about 40 L
Im proud to be a part of. Its jointly under the auspices of the cops office and the bureau of justice assistance. This is done tremendous good in training more than 15,000 officers across this country. Finally, hes increased the federal grant money thats gone to groups like ours and others who are focused on officer safety and wellness. Those are just some great examples of the leadership hes provided. I dont think its any coincidence that as a result of all of those efforts, the last two years now, weve seen fewer Law Enforcement fatalities than any year for the last 50. Thats a great credit to leadership and to this group and so many others focused on this issue. A lot more work clearly needs to be done. I look at canada as a great role model for us here in the United States. Ive attended their memorial service, two out of the last three years. Two years ago, they honored all the officers in canada who had been killed in the line of duty. One officer during a 12month period killed in
Bulletproof vest program, Critical Resources to enable state and local Law Enforcement jurisdiction to purchase their lifesaving vests. It is imperative the program be funded and reauthorized with Adequate Funding. Physical wellness is a huge part of an officers safety. A fit officer will be able to serve his or her Community Better as well as provide better support to his or her fellow officers. It is imperative chiefs promote wellness within their departments and encourage their officers to get regular physical checkups and exercise frequently. The iecp center for officer safety and wellness can be a resource for Law Enforcement in this area. The center promotes health and wellness as part of reducing officer injuries initiative. Iecp released the impact of fitness and weight on injuries fact sheet, reducing officer injuries final report, which highlights the importance of physical wellness. Recently iecp also released two resources examining the importance of officer nutrition. A gu
Federal Policy Changes Must Occur To Provide A Lifesaving Stimulant Drug Intervention healthaffairs.org - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from healthaffairs.org Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.