Page 36 - November2018

‘We have to take away the obstacles about why our officers don’t trust going for help.’
Joe Riley
LET THERE CONTINUED FROM PAGE 34
sional Counseling Services keeps those who have come in for treatment connected to their fellow officers needing help through such mechanisms as AA meetings for police only and bringing officers from the recovery community back to talk to those starting the journey.
“We feel that we can give them a good experience and in time, they will come back,” Riley submits.
The greatest statement of officers consenting to treatment comes through the motivational counseling that EAP and its referred providers practice. Getting officers to contemplate that they might have a problem that needs attention is the goal. People who are forced to go to treatment are not quite as open as somebody who has come to an understanding that their drinking is out of control.
Dan DeGryse, director of the Florian Program for Uni- formed Service Personnel at Rosecrance, a center for sub- stance abuse treatment services with facilities throughout Illinois, confirms another tipping point to get first respond- ers into treatment. His program has become a valuable re- source for EAP because it promotes the trust police officers in treatment have for police officers who are treating them.
“We understand that addiction and mental health issues
are induced by trauma – one after the next after the next after the next,” explains DeGryse, a 28-year veteran of CFD who ran its EAP for 14 years. “It’s like the cold that doesn’t go away. You need the appropriate treatment and interven- tion.”
Guiding Light
Trust flourishes behind the doors of the Professional Counseling Division on West Adams. There are no cameras or recording devices hidden here. Big brother is not watch- ing.
“We don’t take any records here,” reassures Riley. “We have to take away the obstacles about why our officers don’t trust going for help.”
EAP has just finished hitting roll calls at every single dis- trict and unit to break down the barriers to getting addic- tion counseling, clinical services and peer assistance. That educational effort has received backup from Decentralized Training with officers who have been trained in the acade- my to address mental health treatment opportunities and resources at roll calls.
They have become ambassadors promoting mental well-being, and that message coming to cops from cops has apparently resonated. The response to requests for help has bolstered the need for two more facilities, expanded hours and new staff members to serve a large part of the police population.
“We’re police officers. We care about police officers and that’s why our services are widely utilized,” Riley adds. “If not, we wouldn’t be able to justify an enormous expansion.
Disturbance With A Mental
A look into the life of a
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battles of an offifficer,
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but with someone
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All the same
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Officer John Tolley gives the reader a peek inside a
mind divided against itself through stories and poetry that are heartbreaking yet empowering, strong yet vulnerable, and, above all, a raw, honest vision of what it is like to fight the war against the outside world and yourself at the same time.
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responsibilities and
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ed book, Chicago Police
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36 CHICAGO LODGE 7 ■ NOVEMBER 2018