Page 37 - SEPTEMBE 2018 Newsletter

A bill of health
Illinois legislature passes new law that makes mental health treatment for police officers confidential
■ BY MITCHELL KRUGEL
Campaign slogans swirl around the Chicago Police Depart- ment, though not the catchphrases some might think. Refrains that have come up at roll calls in every district are ones officers can no longer ignore. Or should ignore.
Make well-being part of your routine...You can’t keep everything in- side and think it will go away...Don’t look for the answer at the bottom of a bottle...Make the community safer by making the officer healthi- er...A healthy police officer is what we want on the street...Keep offi- cers from taking it to the bitter end...Make talking about the emotional consequence of being on the job a normal, healthy and courageous practice...There won’t be a penalty for admitting something isn’t work- ing right...It’s as simple as having the courage to ask for help...
The campaign for mental health and well-being oozes out of the Department’s Employee Assistance Program (EAP) under the direction of Dr. Rob Sobo, and with the help of very robust and knowledgeable outside treatment providers. And now the campaign has been made more accessible and more embold- ened by the passing of the FOP-initiated Illinois House Bill 5231 on Aug. 17. The groundbreaking “Law Enforcement Support Program Confidentiality Act” sponsored by State Senate Pres- ident Tom Cullerton removes possession of a FOID card as a condition of employment for police officers and prevents the penalization of police officers seeking mental health services.
“It’s off the books. It can no longer be a hurdle in the way of somebody getting the help they need,” cheers Dr. Sobo with all the vigor of a campaign speech. “You now have a responsibility to your own well-being. I would like all officers to feel safe and normal to come in for well-being services before you ever reach the point of feeling anxious, stressed or depressed.”
Cullerton, a U.S. Army veteran and Democrat who chairs the Illinois Senate Veterans Affairs Committee, knew all about the effects of post-traumatic stress and its pathway to drug and al- cohol addiction – or worse – when the Illinois FOP Labor Coun- cil pitched him the idea of the bill. He had no trouble translating that pitch to get bipartisan support in both the Illinois House and Senate.
trauma to the physical health risks on the job. Former Chica- go Police Officer and Lodge 7 member Tony Munoz quickly jumped on board as a Senate co-sponsor, as did Chicago Dem- ocrat Kwame Raoul and Republican Neil Anderson, a firefighter in Moline. Retired Stephenson County Sheriff’s Deputy Brian W. Stewart led the support in the House.
“For police officers to fear the ability to talk to somebody about problems and make sure they can navigate through that trauma seemed like a horrific way to do business,” Cullerton reasons. “We go to doctors for everything from a bump on your back to a spot on your nose. The stigma of not going to a doctor to talk about the brain is ignoring the most important thing in your body.”
It’s as simple as having the courage to ask for help
Wake-up call
Suffering consequences of taking on this job...It has to be a weak- ness to talk to about problem...The old model of suck it up is wearing very, very thin...Manage the symptoms until something gives...Every- body in the world can talk to somebody and it would help them...
The campaign to understand why the Law Enforcement Sup- port Program Confidentiality Act is needed begins with a look at the data. The most glaring analysis might be comparing the number of officers who have been injured on the job to the number who have been harmed by their own hands. The former pales in comparison to the latter.
“The polarity is enough to give every officer a wake-up call,” reports Jeff Weinstein, national outreach coordinator for the Florida House Experience, an addiction recovery facility in Deerfield Beach, Florida that specializes in treating first re- sponders.
Further awakenings come through crunching these numbers:
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He likened the problem of the brain taking a beating from
CHICAGO LODGE 7 ■ SEPTEMBER 2018 37