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We’re in this together: Messages to inspire Chicago Police Officers
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ping by homes of seniors they can’t get in touch with by phone to do wellbeing checks. They have also posted videos on Facebook to show residents they are still on the job.
There seem to be many stories like the one in 007 where 86-year- old Ruby Myers took a fall while exercising at home. Her friends at the district got her on the phone, and Shelton offered her a prayer of healing.
“Everybody knowing the department is still here not only makes them feel safer, it makes them feel like we’re going to beat this thing,” asserts 007 CAPS Officer Roderique McClain.
Anybody who has seen Chicago Police Officers on the street or in the district headquarters during the past few weeks knows they are practicing what they are preaching. The uniform now includes a mask and gloves, and every tour begins and ends with them thoroughly wiping down the beat car. They are also wiping down and mopping up in the districts.
“Everybody is willing to give a hand, and, yes, it is kind of scary,” explains Oscar Escalante, an officer in 009. “If I had family members in need, I would want somebody to help them out. We need to help everybody feel at ease, feel supported and not feel abandoned.”
And while you are taking care of everybody else, don’t forget to take care of yourselves. Officers need to find those five-to-10-second moments when they remind themselves that they are safe during the present moment and get grounded, centered and ready to go out there and take care of business again.
Any officer who might have trouble finding those 10 seconds – or the right time to attend to their mental health that would be under-
standably challenged in these challenging times – can call the De- partment’s Employee Assistance Program Professional Counseling Division, which is running its usual 24-7 schedule. Dr. Rob Sobo, the director of the Professional Counseling Division, confirms that mem- bers should not hide that they are feeling anxious, vulnerable and alone.
Dr. Sobo also advocates that while officers do their best to advo- cate for and maintain social distancing, that doesn’t mean emotional distancing.
“By phone, by video, by chat, by whatever safe means that are available, a way to deal with anxiety is to maintain emotional close- ness and intimacy,” Dr. Sobo adds. “Any few minutes to relieve your- self of the burden. Anything that brings you to a place of relaxation or peace.”
Professional Counseling also reminds members to be careful of substance abuse that can be a residual of the bombardment of nega- tivity that will only continue to intensify. Avoid that situation of com- ing home after a watch and rewarding yourself with a drink or two. And letting that two turn into seven.
So when you go home, make your family members the priority. They need to connect to you as much as you need to connect to them. Make the coming-home ritual something like watching funny YouTube videos.
And you don’t have to be more than you can be.
“As police officers, we just do our jobs,” suggests Joe Reilly, an alco- hol and substance abuse counselor for EAP. “Don’t think of ourselves as heroes. We’re just trying do the best we can every day. So don’t lose sight of that.”
26 CHICAGO LODGE 7 ■ APRIL 2020