Veteran Charged In Shooting Of Officers In Two States
Nov 29, 2011
by Tim Wetzel
LINCOLN COUNTY, Tenn. – The man accused of trying to kill two law enforcement officers on the Tennessee -Alabama border was an Iraq war veteran.
The Army said 23-year-old Joseph Shriver was in the Army for 3 years and based at Fort Bliss in Texas.
Shriver served in Iraq for more than a year, and was discharged from the Military last April.
It all started in Madison County, Alabama around 11:30 p.m. Monday when Shriver allegedly robbed the Super Stop on Moores Mill Road.
A deputy spotted his vehicle shortly after, and stopped him. That's when he allegedly opened fire.
"The offender in the Toyota exited his vehicle and fired multiple rounds from an assault rifle, striking the vehicle and the deputy multiple times," said Brent Patterson with the Madison County, Alabama Sheriff's Office.
Deputy Brent Beavers was critically injured after being shot in the face. Grainy cell phone video showed the scene as paramedics rushed him to a Huntsville hospital. His fellow deputies followed behind.
read more here
Showing posts with label law enforcement. Show all posts
Showing posts with label law enforcement. Show all posts
Wednesday, November 30, 2011
Tuesday, August 30, 2011
Police stress can explain behavior
Cape Cod Times had a letter published defending police officers that offers one more way to understand military culture. While it is about police officers the troops have the same view about being "tough" and reluctant to seek help. The biggest problem is, the military is actually supporting the "tough" enough notion when they push resiliency training. This approach has been telling the troops they need to toughen their minds, in other words, they are not tough enough if they end up with PTSD.
Another aspect of PTSD is there are different levels of it but above that, there are also different types of it. Military and police work have men and women not just surviving traumatic events, but participating in them with force on a daily basis. While we can understand PTSD in the civilian world with one extreme event, they live through them over and over again topped off with the risk of "at any moment" it can happen again. Firefighters and emergency responders have another type of PTSD because of the horrors they encounter above civilians due to the pile up of events as well.
The very people we depend on the most should be applauded for seeking help since it is often the hardest thing they do, but when they are told their minds are just not trained to "take it" they believe it is their fault they have PTSD.
Police stress can explain behavior
By RALPH F. CAHOON
August 30, 2011
I found it ironic that the Times chose to run its latest editorial (Aug. 28) bashing the police on the same day that local officers were risking their lives during a tropical storm to protect the rest of us.
The Times frequently lambastes police officers for improper actions, yet declines to discuss how the stresses of law enforcement affect the lives of officers. I hope this helps readers see another side of the story.
While most people understand that policing is a very difficult profession, few understand its impact on those who wear a badge. Officers are expected to perform professionally in horrific circumstances and control their emotions at all times.
As a 26-year police veteran, I know this isn't easy. My peers have had people attack and try to kill them; helplessly watched people burn up in fires; frantically performed CPR on lifeless babies; felt the squish of pooled blood beneath their feet at crime scenes; and scooped various body parts off the street. The impact of such incidents can be severe, and many officers turn to alcohol or sometimes even drugs to help them forget the ingrained images or recurring nightmares.
Indeed, it is estimated that alcoholism among officers is double the national average; the rates of officer suicide, divorce and domestic abuse in police families are also above normal; and 10 percent to 15 percent of officers suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder.
read more here
Another aspect of PTSD is there are different levels of it but above that, there are also different types of it. Military and police work have men and women not just surviving traumatic events, but participating in them with force on a daily basis. While we can understand PTSD in the civilian world with one extreme event, they live through them over and over again topped off with the risk of "at any moment" it can happen again. Firefighters and emergency responders have another type of PTSD because of the horrors they encounter above civilians due to the pile up of events as well.
The very people we depend on the most should be applauded for seeking help since it is often the hardest thing they do, but when they are told their minds are just not trained to "take it" they believe it is their fault they have PTSD.
Wednesday, August 10, 2011
Idaho PTSD veteran helps law enforcement understand
Anxiety and stress disorders from war combats
By Jennifer Auh
CREATED AUG. 9, 2011
The wounds of war are not always visible. On Tuesday, a special ceremony honored veterans in a different and special way. It featured information about how post traumatic stress disorder could get dangerous for troops when they return home.
Former Soldier George Nickel almost lost his life from post traumatic stress disorder or PTSD. A video presentation featured the Iraqi War veteran.
read more here
Anxiety and stress disorders from war combats
By Jennifer Auh
CREATED AUG. 9, 2011
The wounds of war are not always visible. On Tuesday, a special ceremony honored veterans in a different and special way. It featured information about how post traumatic stress disorder could get dangerous for troops when they return home.
Former Soldier George Nickel almost lost his life from post traumatic stress disorder or PTSD. A video presentation featured the Iraqi War veteran.
read more here
Anxiety and stress disorders from war combats
Monday, July 18, 2011
Cops call therapists for backup
It would be great if they could call in therapists from the VA if they are dealing with veterans, especially now!
Cops call therapists for backup
By Erin Grace
WORLD-HERALD STAFF WRITER
The 54-year-old Bellevue man had subsisted on nothing but vodka and water for six days. The 19-year-old crying Papillion woman was fearful of her abusive husband. The stressed-out 20-year-old Council Bluffs woman was so frozen with anxiety about a move and a new college that she couldn't breathe and was having heart palpitations.
In each case, police were called. In each case, police called for backup — but not from uniformed officers.
Backup came from licensed therapists, who helped at the scene and followed up later with the individuals, who otherwise might have ended up in costly emergency protective custody or left alone.
The cases reflect a trend in the Omaha metropolitan area as law enforcement agencies team up with mental health experts to better help the people they encounter on 911 calls who are not involved in criminal activities.
Here's how it works: A 911 call comes in, an officer responds and, depending upon the actions of the subject, dials the appropriate agency. Within 30 minutes, a therapist arrives and talks to the person to assess risk and advise the officer. Police make the final call on where the person goes, if anywhere.
It's a trend rooted in state policy to deinstitutionalize mental health services and serve patients in their homes and communities when possible. Because of this push, which resulted in the closing of regional behavioral health centers in Hastings and Norfolk, Neb., several years ago, the state is paying for emergency crisis care provided by two nonprofit agencies in the Omaha area.
Lutheran Family Services is the on-call resource for law enforcement agencies and homeless shelters in Omaha and Douglas, Washington and Dodge Counties. Heartland Family Service serves law enforcement agencies in Sarpy and Cass Counties in Nebraska and Pottawattamie County in Iowa.
read more here
Cops call therapists for backup
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
Educating cops about veterans with PTSD
Educating cops about PTSD
KALWNews.org
By Erica Mu
Veterans with untreated PTSD are more likely to wind up in the criminal justice system.
JOHN GALVAN: You get rage you can't understand and you can't control it. When I got arrested I was telling the police, "You need to get me away from this situation. There's a high potential that I'm gonna do something that's gonna be really bad." Better to get arrested and get some psych help than be free.
But getting veterans like John Galvan the help they need shouldn't come only after a jail sentence. So a pilot program is helping train law enforcement officers to identify distressed veterans and help them diffuse as ituation before it escalates to crisis and arrest. In the second part of KALW News' series on returning veterans, reporter Lilah Crews-Pless takes us to a Combat to Community training near Sacramento.
LILAH CREWS-PLESS: About 50 police officers are having morning coffee and donuts in a conference room near Sacramento. Light shines into the cool room, which is covered in linoleum and wood paneling.
MIKE VANDERWOOD: Anybody else here a veteran? Prior service? Currently serving? Got about 30 of you all in the room. Great. Anybody work with veterans? Like your peers? A lot of you all? And how many of you encounter vets in the street or in your jobs? A lot of you, right?
About a third of today's class identify themselves as vets, and Mike Vanderwood says that proportion tends to be the norm. Former soldiers are six times more likely to work in law enforcement than civilians.
VANDERWOOD: And if your hand wasn't raised you are freakin' wrong. I'm telling you because you are going be working with veterans at some point.
Vanderwood, a captain in the Marine Corps Reserve, is teaching these law enforcement officers how to deal with troubled vets, especially those who have just come home from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Vanderwood illustrates just how psychologically damaging combat can be on soldiers using a film clip.
Read more: Educating cops about PTSD
KALWNews.org
By Erica Mu
Veterans with untreated PTSD are more likely to wind up in the criminal justice system.
JOHN GALVAN: You get rage you can't understand and you can't control it. When I got arrested I was telling the police, "You need to get me away from this situation. There's a high potential that I'm gonna do something that's gonna be really bad." Better to get arrested and get some psych help than be free.
But getting veterans like John Galvan the help they need shouldn't come only after a jail sentence. So a pilot program is helping train law enforcement officers to identify distressed veterans and help them diffuse as ituation before it escalates to crisis and arrest. In the second part of KALW News' series on returning veterans, reporter Lilah Crews-Pless takes us to a Combat to Community training near Sacramento.
LILAH CREWS-PLESS: About 50 police officers are having morning coffee and donuts in a conference room near Sacramento. Light shines into the cool room, which is covered in linoleum and wood paneling.
MIKE VANDERWOOD: Anybody else here a veteran? Prior service? Currently serving? Got about 30 of you all in the room. Great. Anybody work with veterans? Like your peers? A lot of you all? And how many of you encounter vets in the street or in your jobs? A lot of you, right?
About a third of today's class identify themselves as vets, and Mike Vanderwood says that proportion tends to be the norm. Former soldiers are six times more likely to work in law enforcement than civilians.
VANDERWOOD: And if your hand wasn't raised you are freakin' wrong. I'm telling you because you are going be working with veterans at some point.
Vanderwood, a captain in the Marine Corps Reserve, is teaching these law enforcement officers how to deal with troubled vets, especially those who have just come home from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Vanderwood illustrates just how psychologically damaging combat can be on soldiers using a film clip.
Read more: Educating cops about PTSD
Sunday, May 15, 2011
Hillsboro cop is haunted by a welfare check that turned into gunfire
One year later, a Hillsboro cop is haunted by a welfare check that turned into gunfire
Published: Saturday, May 14, 2011, 2:00 PM
By Rebecca Woolington, The Oregonian
HILLSBORO -- Police Officer Ryan Johnson talked to the middle-aged man for seconds outside the blue-gray duplex. A storm door, primarily made of glass, separated the officer from the scowling man, whose doctor called police fearing he may be suicidal.
Abruptly, the man lifted up the back of his T-shirt and whipped out a black pistol from the waistband of his desert-toned, camouflage pants.
And without uttering a word, he pointed the gun square at the officer.
Johnson dashed against the outside wall of the duplex, pulled his own gun and radioed for help. Dragging his left shoulder against the home, he slid out of the man's sight but stumbled into a fold-up chair left in front of the cluttered property. He paused.
A bullet ripped through the house less than two feet in front of him; wood chips flew into the air. Johnson ran behind a red pickup in the driveway.
Officers citywide sped to the duplex and set up outside, their rifles and pistols drawn.
Suddenly, Johnson heard a handful of shots. But he didn't know who was shooting at whom.
Then, over his radio, he heard, "officer down." One of the responding officers, Justin Morris, had been shot in the shoulder.
Eventually, the man, who had also thrown what looked to be a grenade toward officers, crawled out of the unit and into custody. Police had shot him in his right leg.
As Johnson rendered aid to the man, he felt only resentment.
read more here
One year later, a Hillsboro cop is haunted
Published: Saturday, May 14, 2011, 2:00 PM
By Rebecca Woolington, The Oregonian
Thomas Boyd / The Oregonian
Hillsboro Officer Ryan Johnson was shot at while checking on a possibly suicidal man last June. Another Hillsboro officer was shot and wounded. Nearly a year after the shooting, Johnson thinks about it every day.
HILLSBORO -- Police Officer Ryan Johnson talked to the middle-aged man for seconds outside the blue-gray duplex. A storm door, primarily made of glass, separated the officer from the scowling man, whose doctor called police fearing he may be suicidal.
Abruptly, the man lifted up the back of his T-shirt and whipped out a black pistol from the waistband of his desert-toned, camouflage pants.
And without uttering a word, he pointed the gun square at the officer.
Johnson dashed against the outside wall of the duplex, pulled his own gun and radioed for help. Dragging his left shoulder against the home, he slid out of the man's sight but stumbled into a fold-up chair left in front of the cluttered property. He paused.
A bullet ripped through the house less than two feet in front of him; wood chips flew into the air. Johnson ran behind a red pickup in the driveway.
Officers citywide sped to the duplex and set up outside, their rifles and pistols drawn.
Suddenly, Johnson heard a handful of shots. But he didn't know who was shooting at whom.
Then, over his radio, he heard, "officer down." One of the responding officers, Justin Morris, had been shot in the shoulder.
Eventually, the man, who had also thrown what looked to be a grenade toward officers, crawled out of the unit and into custody. Police had shot him in his right leg.
As Johnson rendered aid to the man, he felt only resentment.
read more here
One year later, a Hillsboro cop is haunted
Monday, October 11, 2010
Dealing with vets’ invisible wounds
Dealing with vets’ invisible wounds
01:00 AM EDT on Monday, October 11, 2010
By Katie mulvanEY
Journal Staff writer
PROVIDENCE — Rhode Island Representatives Patrick J. Kennedy and James R. Langevin will bring together law-enforcement officials, veterans, judges, military advocates and health-care experts this month for a roundtable discussion of the state’s efforts to help veterans recover from what they describe as the “invisible” wounds of war.
The group will explore avenues in which qualified veterans may receive treatment for substance-abuse issues and neurological disorders through Veterans Administration health care, as an alternative to the criminal justice system, according to Kennedy’s office.
Set for 4 p.m., Oct. 25, at the Rhode Island National Guard facility in Cranston, its participants will include Craig Stenning, director of the state Department of Behavioral Healthcare, Developmental Disabilities and Hospitals; Ashbel T. Wall II, director of the Department of Corrections; Deputy Attorney General Gerald J. Coyne; District Court Chief Judge Jeanne E. LaFazia; and Daniel Evangelista, the state’s commandant for veterans affairs, Kennedy’s office said.
The effort is in cooperation with the Rhode Island National Guard and the Municipal Police Academy.
read more here
Dealing with vets invisible wounds
01:00 AM EDT on Monday, October 11, 2010
By Katie mulvanEY
Journal Staff writer
PROVIDENCE — Rhode Island Representatives Patrick J. Kennedy and James R. Langevin will bring together law-enforcement officials, veterans, judges, military advocates and health-care experts this month for a roundtable discussion of the state’s efforts to help veterans recover from what they describe as the “invisible” wounds of war.
The group will explore avenues in which qualified veterans may receive treatment for substance-abuse issues and neurological disorders through Veterans Administration health care, as an alternative to the criminal justice system, according to Kennedy’s office.
Set for 4 p.m., Oct. 25, at the Rhode Island National Guard facility in Cranston, its participants will include Craig Stenning, director of the state Department of Behavioral Healthcare, Developmental Disabilities and Hospitals; Ashbel T. Wall II, director of the Department of Corrections; Deputy Attorney General Gerald J. Coyne; District Court Chief Judge Jeanne E. LaFazia; and Daniel Evangelista, the state’s commandant for veterans affairs, Kennedy’s office said.
The effort is in cooperation with the Rhode Island National Guard and the Municipal Police Academy.
read more here
Dealing with vets invisible wounds
Friday, September 10, 2010
Our Lost Heroes Police Suicide Statistics
2009 Police Suicide Statistics
Our Lost Heroes
PAMELA KULBARSH, RN
Crisis Intervention Contributor
Officer.com
The Badge of Life Organization recently released their preliminary 2009 police suicide statistics. There were 143 police suicides in 2009, a slight increase from 2008 police suicides of 141. In 2009 there were 127 in the line of duty deaths. Officer suicide rates are at least double of the general population. Any law enforcement suicide is one too many. World Suicide Prevention Day is observed on September 10 each year to promote worldwide action to prevent suicides. Various events and activities are held during this occasion to raise awareness that suicide is a major preventable cause of premature death.
The 2009 Badge of Life police suicide study provided additional demographic information:
•Ages 40-44 are at highest risk of suicide, representing 27% of all suicides.
•Service time at highest risk was twenty years plus.
•Officers with less than ten years on the job had a suicide rate of 17%.
•64% of suicides were a surprise.
There is no easy or full proof way to identify which officers are most at risk for taking their own lives. Every officer has his or her breaking point. The stresses of daily life, coupled with stresses from tragic/critical events, can push a police officer to end his/her life. Recognizing the signs and symptoms of stress and depression before an officer reaches that breaking point is essential.
The top predictors for suicide for anyone are: a diagnostic mental disorder, alcohol or substance use, loss of social or family support, and the availability and access to a firearm. 90% of officers commit suicide using a gun. Additionally, about 90% of the time, an officer is drinking heavily when he/she kills himself/herself. Statistically, most officers that commit suicide are white males, working patrol and are entering middle-age. They have experienced a recent loss, real or perceived. Most have no record of misconduct. Most shoot themselves while off duty.
read more here
Police Suicide Statistics
Our Lost Heroes
PAMELA KULBARSH, RN
Crisis Intervention Contributor
Officer.com
The Badge of Life Organization recently released their preliminary 2009 police suicide statistics. There were 143 police suicides in 2009, a slight increase from 2008 police suicides of 141. In 2009 there were 127 in the line of duty deaths. Officer suicide rates are at least double of the general population. Any law enforcement suicide is one too many. World Suicide Prevention Day is observed on September 10 each year to promote worldwide action to prevent suicides. Various events and activities are held during this occasion to raise awareness that suicide is a major preventable cause of premature death.
The 2009 Badge of Life police suicide study provided additional demographic information:
•Ages 40-44 are at highest risk of suicide, representing 27% of all suicides.
•Service time at highest risk was twenty years plus.
•Officers with less than ten years on the job had a suicide rate of 17%.
•64% of suicides were a surprise.
There is no easy or full proof way to identify which officers are most at risk for taking their own lives. Every officer has his or her breaking point. The stresses of daily life, coupled with stresses from tragic/critical events, can push a police officer to end his/her life. Recognizing the signs and symptoms of stress and depression before an officer reaches that breaking point is essential.
The top predictors for suicide for anyone are: a diagnostic mental disorder, alcohol or substance use, loss of social or family support, and the availability and access to a firearm. 90% of officers commit suicide using a gun. Additionally, about 90% of the time, an officer is drinking heavily when he/she kills himself/herself. Statistically, most officers that commit suicide are white males, working patrol and are entering middle-age. They have experienced a recent loss, real or perceived. Most have no record of misconduct. Most shoot themselves while off duty.
read more here
Police Suicide Statistics
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
Deputies get help with postwar trauma
Michael Sears
Milwaukee County Sheriff’s Sgt. Colin Briggs, who served in Iraq and Afghanistan, is back and supervising deputies at the lakefront. But sometimes the hot sun can bring flashbacks.
Deputies get help with postwar trauma
Sheriff's Department program will guide returning veterans
By Eric Randall of the Journal Sentinel
Aug. 24, 2010
When he's driving his cruiser on a warm day, with the sun beating down on the pavement, Milwaukee Sheriff's Sgt. Colin Briggs says it is easy to flash back to the roads in Iraq.
Briggs served there, and Afghanistan before that, as a combat adviser to local security forces.
Odd as it may seem, the difference between Milwaukee and Baghdad can be difficult to perceive for some returning veterans who serve in law enforcement - the result of a war in which urban patrolling makes a soldier's job more similar to a police officer's than in any previous war. Those similarities can be dangerous when soldiers who have been taught to drive fast and stop for nothing translate that experience to the roads of Milwaukee County.
But speeding is not the most disastrous of the potential side-effects facing veterans who return to law enforcement jobs. Last October, a sheriff's sergeant, Scott Krause, repeatedly punched a handcuffed suspect in the back of his cruiser. After a judge sentenced Krause to 18 months in prison in March, Sheriff David A. Clarke Jr. realized he had a problem.
read the rest here
http://www.jsonline.com/news/milwaukee/101439164.html
Here are two of my videos that may help you understand what Sgt. Briggs is trying to explain.
Thursday, August 19, 2010
Richmond County Sheriff's Office deputies learn about PTSD
Officers learn to deal with situations involving PTSD
By Kyle Martin
Staff Writer
Thursday, Aug 19, 2010
Fifteen months is a long time to fear that every piece of roadside garbage is going to explode or that a suicide bomber is tracking your Humvee.
Multiply that time by three or four deployments to Afghanistan or Iraq and it's easy to understand why returning servicemen and women have a hard time letting their guard down.
"I have soldiers in my (therapy) group who walk the perimeter of the room before sitting down," said Mwende Mualuko, a medical resident at Charlie Norwood VA Medical Center in Augusta. "They can't sit with their back to the door."
Mualuko was sharing her knowledge about post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) Wednesday morning with a small group of Richmond County Sheriff's Office deputies. Helping her out with the presentation on how law enforcement can safely handle people with the disorder was Dr. Miriam Hancock, who also counsels patients at the PTSD clinic.
read more here
Officers learn to deal with situations involving PTSD
By Kyle Martin
Staff Writer
Thursday, Aug 19, 2010
Fifteen months is a long time to fear that every piece of roadside garbage is going to explode or that a suicide bomber is tracking your Humvee.
Multiply that time by three or four deployments to Afghanistan or Iraq and it's easy to understand why returning servicemen and women have a hard time letting their guard down.
"I have soldiers in my (therapy) group who walk the perimeter of the room before sitting down," said Mwende Mualuko, a medical resident at Charlie Norwood VA Medical Center in Augusta. "They can't sit with their back to the door."
Mualuko was sharing her knowledge about post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) Wednesday morning with a small group of Richmond County Sheriff's Office deputies. Helping her out with the presentation on how law enforcement can safely handle people with the disorder was Dr. Miriam Hancock, who also counsels patients at the PTSD clinic.
read more here
Officers learn to deal with situations involving PTSD
Tuesday, August 3, 2010
Counseling center opens with goal of offering peace to safety forces
Counseling center opens with goal of offering peace to safety forces
Idea springs from trial of five sheriff's deputies
By Kathy Antoniotti
Beacon Journal staff writer
Published on Tuesday, Aug 03, 2010
Inside the Furnace Street Mission is a place for those who help others to seek respite for themselves.
The Summit County Chaplaincy Center for safety forces will provide confidential counseling for stress debriefing after incidents involving on-duty safety personnel, including dispatchers.
Renovations began about 18 months ago, said the Rev. Bob Denton, chaplain for the Akron Police Department and executive director of Victim Assistance.
The need for the center is apparent by the escalation in counseling requests from last year to this year, he said.
''There were about 90 sessions last year and 71 sessions just since the first of this year,'' he said.
Most memorable in Denton's mind
are the officers still on the street because they asked for and received help.
''Four officers in the last year are all here because of it. They were going to eat their guns,'' he said.
The idea for the center was born during the trials of five Summit County sheriff's deputies who were accused of contributing to the 2006 death of jail inmate Mark D. McCullaugh Jr.
read more here
http://www.ohio.com/news/99818554.html
Idea springs from trial of five sheriff's deputies
By Kathy Antoniotti
Beacon Journal staff writer
Published on Tuesday, Aug 03, 2010
Inside the Furnace Street Mission is a place for those who help others to seek respite for themselves.
The Summit County Chaplaincy Center for safety forces will provide confidential counseling for stress debriefing after incidents involving on-duty safety personnel, including dispatchers.
Renovations began about 18 months ago, said the Rev. Bob Denton, chaplain for the Akron Police Department and executive director of Victim Assistance.
The need for the center is apparent by the escalation in counseling requests from last year to this year, he said.
''There were about 90 sessions last year and 71 sessions just since the first of this year,'' he said.
Most memorable in Denton's mind
are the officers still on the street because they asked for and received help.
''Four officers in the last year are all here because of it. They were going to eat their guns,'' he said.
The idea for the center was born during the trials of five Summit County sheriff's deputies who were accused of contributing to the 2006 death of jail inmate Mark D. McCullaugh Jr.
read more here
http://www.ohio.com/news/99818554.html
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
Soldier injured in Iraq becomes LMPD officer
Soldier injured in Iraq becomes LMPD officer
By Janelle MacDonald
LOUISVILLE, KY (WAVE) - LMPD graduated its newest class of officers Friday and one of them has already led an amazing life in the U.S. Military.
Twenty men and women are beginning new lives, putting their own lives at risk as LMPD officers
New officer Dexter Pitts is just hoping for a calmer life than the one he led before.
"When I was in the Army, I served with the 10th Mountain Division in Iraq," Pitts said.
Two years in, insurgents struck.
"I got wounded in action by a 300 pound bomb on January 2nd of 2005," Pitts said. "I just had this bad feeling. I just knew something wasn't right. You know, you can feel when somebody's watching you. I just knew somebody was watching us."
He was right.
"The next thing I know, I wake up and I'm looking at the sky," said Pitts. "I looked down at my left arm and my bones were trying to come through my skin ... I remember waking up in the Humvee and my lieutenant was like, 'You're good man. You're alive man.' He pulled me out the Humvee and it hurt so bad."
He went through six months of rehabilitation at Walter Reed Medical Center.
"I had 12 operations," said Pitts. "I had radiation therapy. I constantly battle with sickness, PTSD, nightmares."
go here for the rest and video
http://www.wave3.com/Global/story.asp?S=12673974
By Janelle MacDonald
LOUISVILLE, KY (WAVE) - LMPD graduated its newest class of officers Friday and one of them has already led an amazing life in the U.S. Military.
Twenty men and women are beginning new lives, putting their own lives at risk as LMPD officers
New officer Dexter Pitts is just hoping for a calmer life than the one he led before.
"When I was in the Army, I served with the 10th Mountain Division in Iraq," Pitts said.
Two years in, insurgents struck.
"I got wounded in action by a 300 pound bomb on January 2nd of 2005," Pitts said. "I just had this bad feeling. I just knew something wasn't right. You know, you can feel when somebody's watching you. I just knew somebody was watching us."
He was right.
"The next thing I know, I wake up and I'm looking at the sky," said Pitts. "I looked down at my left arm and my bones were trying to come through my skin ... I remember waking up in the Humvee and my lieutenant was like, 'You're good man. You're alive man.' He pulled me out the Humvee and it hurt so bad."
He went through six months of rehabilitation at Walter Reed Medical Center.
"I had 12 operations," said Pitts. "I had radiation therapy. I constantly battle with sickness, PTSD, nightmares."
go here for the rest and video
http://www.wave3.com/Global/story.asp?S=12673974
Thursday, May 13, 2010
Fallen officers to be honored at national memorial
Fallen officers to be honored at national memorial
Submitted by Molly Shen on Thursday, May 13th, 07:38am
Family members, friends and fellow officers of six slain law enforcement officers from Western Washington are in Washington D.C. today for a ceremony honoring fallen officers from around the country.
The names of Seattle police Officer Timothy Brenton, Pierce County Deputy Kent Mundell and Lakewood officers Tina Griswold, Ronald Owens, Mark Renninger and Greg Richards were recently engraved on the National Law Enforcement Memorial wall.
A formal ceremony marking the addition of the six names and the names of other 318 other officers from across the U.S. will be held Thursday night. About 20,000 people are expected to attend the vigil.
go here for more
http://lakewood.komonews.com/content/fallen-officers-be-honored-national-memorial
Submitted by Molly Shen on Thursday, May 13th, 07:38am
Family members, friends and fellow officers of six slain law enforcement officers from Western Washington are in Washington D.C. today for a ceremony honoring fallen officers from around the country.
The names of Seattle police Officer Timothy Brenton, Pierce County Deputy Kent Mundell and Lakewood officers Tina Griswold, Ronald Owens, Mark Renninger and Greg Richards were recently engraved on the National Law Enforcement Memorial wall.
A formal ceremony marking the addition of the six names and the names of other 318 other officers from across the U.S. will be held Thursday night. About 20,000 people are expected to attend the vigil.
go here for more
http://lakewood.komonews.com/content/fallen-officers-be-honored-national-memorial
Sunday, April 11, 2010
The dark demons of policing
Officer down: The dark demons of policing
By MARK BONOKOSKI, Toronto Sun
Last Updated: April 11, 2010 1:00am
BRACEBRIDGE — From the outside looking in, Bruce Kruger would appear to have an idyllic life.
Retired from the OPP within the top 4% of its hierarchy, his final rank after almost four decades being a detective inspector, he lives in a perfect-setting, bed-and-breakfast home on the banks of the Muskoka River, and owns a successful Swiss Chalet-Harvey’s franchise in the heart of town as well as in Huntsville.
He has been married 40 years to wife, Lynda, has four children, one a cop, and 13 grandchildren.
He has both the Canada Medal of Bravery and the Ontario Medal of Bravery, as well as a number of valour certificates and commendations, and with nary a recorded blemish on his career.
He’s Bracebridge’s Town Crier, and award-winning one at that, and has served on more municipal boards, organizing committees, and charitable groups than one can imagine.
Back in December, he was an official Olympic torchbearer, one of his last public functions before going to ground.
Bruce Kruger, as it turns out, had a dark secret.
And now he wants it out.
A few days ago, Bruce Kruger returned from an eight-week, in-house stay at the Homewood Health Clinic in Guelph where, partially at his own expense, he finally dealt with the post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) that plagued him most of his life as a cop, and throughout the entire 10 years he has been in retirement.
read more here
The dark demons of policing
By MARK BONOKOSKI, Toronto Sun
Last Updated: April 11, 2010 1:00am
BRACEBRIDGE — From the outside looking in, Bruce Kruger would appear to have an idyllic life.
Retired from the OPP within the top 4% of its hierarchy, his final rank after almost four decades being a detective inspector, he lives in a perfect-setting, bed-and-breakfast home on the banks of the Muskoka River, and owns a successful Swiss Chalet-Harvey’s franchise in the heart of town as well as in Huntsville.
He has been married 40 years to wife, Lynda, has four children, one a cop, and 13 grandchildren.
He has both the Canada Medal of Bravery and the Ontario Medal of Bravery, as well as a number of valour certificates and commendations, and with nary a recorded blemish on his career.
He’s Bracebridge’s Town Crier, and award-winning one at that, and has served on more municipal boards, organizing committees, and charitable groups than one can imagine.
Back in December, he was an official Olympic torchbearer, one of his last public functions before going to ground.
Bruce Kruger, as it turns out, had a dark secret.
And now he wants it out.
A few days ago, Bruce Kruger returned from an eight-week, in-house stay at the Homewood Health Clinic in Guelph where, partially at his own expense, he finally dealt with the post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) that plagued him most of his life as a cop, and throughout the entire 10 years he has been in retirement.
read more here
The dark demons of policing
Monday, March 29, 2010
FBI charges 9 in plot to kill police officers
FBI Charges 9 in Midwest Raids
Devlin Barrett
AP WASHINGTON (March 29) -- Nine suspects tied to a Christian militia in the Midwest are charged with conspiring to kill police officers, then attack a funeral in the hopes of killing more law enforcement personnel, federal prosecutors said Monday.
U.S. Attorney Barbara McQuade said agents moved on the group because the Hutaree members were planning a violent reconaissance mission sometime in April - just a few days away.
Members of the group called Hutaree are charged in the case, including their leader, David Brian Stone, also known as "Captain Hutaree."
Once other officers gathered for a slain officer's funeral, the group planned to detonate homemade bombs at the funeral, killing more, according to newly unsealed court papers.
According to the indictment, the idea of attacking a police funeral was one of numerous scenarios discussed as ways to go after law enforcement officers. Other scenarios included a fake 911 call to lure an officer to his or her death, or an attack on the family of a police officer.
read more here
FBI Charges 9 in Midwest Raids
Devlin Barrett
AP WASHINGTON (March 29) -- Nine suspects tied to a Christian militia in the Midwest are charged with conspiring to kill police officers, then attack a funeral in the hopes of killing more law enforcement personnel, federal prosecutors said Monday.
U.S. Attorney Barbara McQuade said agents moved on the group because the Hutaree members were planning a violent reconaissance mission sometime in April - just a few days away.
Members of the group called Hutaree are charged in the case, including their leader, David Brian Stone, also known as "Captain Hutaree."
Once other officers gathered for a slain officer's funeral, the group planned to detonate homemade bombs at the funeral, killing more, according to newly unsealed court papers.
According to the indictment, the idea of attacking a police funeral was one of numerous scenarios discussed as ways to go after law enforcement officers. Other scenarios included a fake 911 call to lure an officer to his or her death, or an attack on the family of a police officer.
read more here
FBI Charges 9 in Midwest Raids
Monday, March 22, 2010
Shot policewoman quits force due to stress
This report is from the UK but it speaks loudly about the fact the dangerous job of police work sometimes leaves wounds no one can see.
The men and women entering into law enforcement, no matter what nation they live in, are much like the men and women entering into the military. They know the job is dangerous but they know it has to be done.
The men and women entering into law enforcement, no matter what nation they live in, are much like the men and women entering into the military. They know the job is dangerous but they know it has to be done.
"Policing is a vocation and attracts a certain calibre of person. Those who feel an overwhelming sense of wanting to serve, to help others, and believe strongly in the principles of upholding the law to protect the law-abiding majority and keep people safe. Rachael Bown is one of those people."
Shot policewoman quits force due to stress
By Theo Usherwood, PA
A police officer shot in the stomach by an illegal immigrant announced today that she was leaving her force because of post-traumatic stress.
Pc Rachael Bown, now 27, said she still suffered flashbacks and panic attacks after being shot by Trevon Thomas while investigating a burglary in Lenton, Nottingham, in February 2006.
She needed emergency surgery and spent several days in intensive care after the bullet passed through her stomach.
Pc Bown, a trainee at the time of the shooting, went back to work after 12 months. But she could not return to frontline policing and was restricted to desk duties.
Today she said she was leaving Nottinghamshire Police.
In an open letter to the force, she said: "People think you can get over it or simply move on.
"But the reality is so very different. I have symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder and suffer from panic attacks, nightmares and anxiety flashbacks. I have developed phobias about hospitals and the dark.
"Being shot changes you as a person. You see things differently. You also know that no-one can ever truly understand what you are going through."
read more here
Shot policewoman quits force due to stress
Sunday, January 24, 2010
PTSD caused by duty spawns action across the nation
PTSD caused by duty spawns action across the nation
by
Chaplain Kathie
Massachusetts has reason to be ashamed when there is even one remaining branch of public service denying PTSD and what it brings to those who serve as well as their families. Haven't they read the newspaper articles about National Guardsman and women committing suicide? Haven't they read them about active duty servicemen and women trying to heal? If they do not recognize PTSD as being behind the suicides of those who serve, no matter in what capacity, then they are attacking all demographics with it.
This means they do not value the men and women serving as police officers, State Troopers or the National Guards or those in the military enough to learn much at all, yet they have one of the best Veteran's hospitals for PTSD in the nation right there in Bedford.
They have one of the best VA psychologists honored as an expert on PTSD, author of some of the best books on PTSD, Dr. Jonathan Shay, now retired from the Boston VA, but in all these years, he was right there to get them out of the dark ages.
When we know about something good being done, we assume it is happening everywhere but this is not the case when it comes to PTSD. One state may be far ahead of other states address the trauma first responders face everyday, but a neighboring state may still be totally oblivious to it. One state may have chaplains fully train on trauma and PTSD working with survivors but ignoring the responders, or visa versa. Civilians face trauma all the time but for most, it is only a one time event while responders face multiple traumas as part of their jobs. If we do not take care of the responders, then we are not honoring anyone's service. It's as simple as that.
My friend Lily Casura over at Healing Combat Trauma wanted to make sure I read the following. It makes me wonder what it will take for all of the people we count on everyday to be able to receive all the help they need to do it.
The police suicide problem
Being a cop is a dangerous job -- and not just for the obvious reasons. Suicide kills more officers every year than homicides or accidents at work. But what does society owe the families of those for whom this high-stress job is too much to take? One widow answers: respect.
By Julia Dahl
January 24, 2010
Early on the afternoon of July 28, 2006, Captain Paul McCarthy of the Massachusetts State Police put on his blue trooper uniform, holstered his gun, and got into the driver’s seat of his police cruiser. McCarthy was despondent, exhausted from 13 years of physical and emotional pain. It all began on an overtime shift back in 1993: a snowy March midnight when a man driving a stolen MBTA bus bulldozed his cruiser, crushing his legs and trapping him inside the vehicle. After that came the surgeries and months spent learning to walk again. He fought hard and, defying doctors’ predictions, after a year and a half made it back to active duty in the only job he’d ever wanted.
by
Chaplain Kathie
Massachusetts has reason to be ashamed when there is even one remaining branch of public service denying PTSD and what it brings to those who serve as well as their families. Haven't they read the newspaper articles about National Guardsman and women committing suicide? Haven't they read them about active duty servicemen and women trying to heal? If they do not recognize PTSD as being behind the suicides of those who serve, no matter in what capacity, then they are attacking all demographics with it.
This means they do not value the men and women serving as police officers, State Troopers or the National Guards or those in the military enough to learn much at all, yet they have one of the best Veteran's hospitals for PTSD in the nation right there in Bedford.
They have one of the best VA psychologists honored as an expert on PTSD, author of some of the best books on PTSD, Dr. Jonathan Shay, now retired from the Boston VA, but in all these years, he was right there to get them out of the dark ages.
When we know about something good being done, we assume it is happening everywhere but this is not the case when it comes to PTSD. One state may be far ahead of other states address the trauma first responders face everyday, but a neighboring state may still be totally oblivious to it. One state may have chaplains fully train on trauma and PTSD working with survivors but ignoring the responders, or visa versa. Civilians face trauma all the time but for most, it is only a one time event while responders face multiple traumas as part of their jobs. If we do not take care of the responders, then we are not honoring anyone's service. It's as simple as that.
My friend Lily Casura over at Healing Combat Trauma wanted to make sure I read the following. It makes me wonder what it will take for all of the people we count on everyday to be able to receive all the help they need to do it.
(Photograph by Webb Chappell)
A widow speaks "I have three children who need validation from someone other than their mother that this had nothing to do with them," says Janice McCarthy, whose trooper husband killed himself with his service weapon after years spent struggling with post-traumatic stress disorder.
The police suicide problem
Being a cop is a dangerous job -- and not just for the obvious reasons. Suicide kills more officers every year than homicides or accidents at work. But what does society owe the families of those for whom this high-stress job is too much to take? One widow answers: respect.
By Julia Dahl
January 24, 2010
Early on the afternoon of July 28, 2006, Captain Paul McCarthy of the Massachusetts State Police put on his blue trooper uniform, holstered his gun, and got into the driver’s seat of his police cruiser. McCarthy was despondent, exhausted from 13 years of physical and emotional pain. It all began on an overtime shift back in 1993: a snowy March midnight when a man driving a stolen MBTA bus bulldozed his cruiser, crushing his legs and trapping him inside the vehicle. After that came the surgeries and months spent learning to walk again. He fought hard and, defying doctors’ predictions, after a year and a half made it back to active duty in the only job he’d ever wanted.
In June 2006, he poured his frustrations into a rambling eight-page letter of complaint to the state Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, writing: “The Massachusetts State police do not recognize Post Traumatic Stress Disorder as an issue that affects the employees of the Mass State Police.”
It was all too much. On the last Friday of July, Janice and the kids were visiting family in Saratoga Springs, New York, when McCarthy stepped out of his apartment and got into his cruiser. At 6:30 p.m., he pulled up to a construction site in Canton at the junction of Route 128 and Interstate 95. A surveillance camera caught the last hour of his life: A passing thunderstorm roared through, then Paul got out of his cruiser and paced. At 7:30 p.m., he pulled out his gun and shot two rounds into a mound of dirt. Moments later, he turned the barrel around and fired a single shot into his chest. He was 41 years old.When I went to Washington DC for Memorial Day last year, the Nam Knights also went to honor the officers as well. This picture is from the Memorial.
Janice took her case to the state retirement board, and in June 2007 her husband’s death was ruled “accidental.” The decision meant she would collect 72 percent of his pension (an “in the line of duty” death would have meant 100 percent and an additional one-time payment of nearly $100,000), but more important, it drew a line connecting his on-the-job injuries to his suicide, opening the door for what Janice McCarthy really wants -- her husband’s death to be ruled “line of duty” and his name added to the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial in Washington, D.C.In May of 2009, news of McCarthy’s quest reached Andy O’Hara, a former California highway patrolman and the founder of Badge of Life, a national advocacy group devoted to improving mental health training for law enforcement officers. The two began talking, and in December O’Hara and his colleagues established a working definition of line-of-duty suicide: “any police officer suicide in which work-related psychological trauma is a precipitant or significant contributor to the act of suicide.” To determine whether an officer suicide fits this definition, O’Hara suggests that outside mental health professionals conduct what’s called a “psychological autopsy,” collecting information through interviews with family and friends of the deceased and a review of his or her medical and job history.
O’Hara’s group is one of several like-minded organizations advocating for police mental health services. The National Police Suicide Foundation was begun in 1997 by a former Baltimore police officer and chaplain who lost a co-worker to suicide. In 1995, Teresa Tate of Cape Coral, Florida -- whose officer husband had taken his life in 1989 -- formed Survivors of Law Enforcement Suicide. Both groups are working to persuade departments across the country to add suicide prevention programs and awareness training for officers and to adopt more compassionate protocols for how to treat surviving families.
read more here
The police suicide problem
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Police and PTSD:There's more than one victim in Bethel fatal shooting
There's more than one victim in Bethel fatal shooting
Updated: 10/27/2009 10:38:43 PM EDT
Gary Bush has never met Michael Libertini, the Bethel police sergeant who shot and killed 56-year-old Joseph DellaVentura on Saturday, after DellaVentura allegedly pointed a gun at him.
But the bond Bush and Libertini share is unquestionable.
It's also unwanted.
Bush, a former police officer in Charleston, W.Va., knows just how Libertini feels.
On Dec. 23, 1994, at 10:41 p.m. -- exactly 25 hours and 19 minutes before Christmas, he'll tell you -- Bush shot and killed a man named Franklin Knuckles.
Bush said Knuckles was drunk that night when police entered the garage apartment where he was holed up.
In similar fashion to what Bethel police say DellaVentura did, Knuckles ignored commands to drop his weapon. Instead, Bush said, Knuckles pointed a rifle at him and Bush fired one round in response.
Just like that, two lives changed forever.
"My shooting took place in this little 10-by-6 room. It might as well have been a firefight in a walk-in closet," said the 48-year-old Bush, who now lives in Cincinnati.
"Even after all this time, I look back and ask, 'Why did this happen?' You can't explain it because it doesn't make sense," Bush reflected. "In my case, I ended up retiring a little over a year after the shooting."
Almost 15 years later, Bush still attends therapy. He still takes medication for depression. He still battles post-traumatic stress syndrome (PTSD) and its demons, nightmares and flashbacks.
read more here
http://www.newstimes.com/ci_13655294
Updated: 10/27/2009 10:38:43 PM EDT
Gary Bush has never met Michael Libertini, the Bethel police sergeant who shot and killed 56-year-old Joseph DellaVentura on Saturday, after DellaVentura allegedly pointed a gun at him.
But the bond Bush and Libertini share is unquestionable.
It's also unwanted.
Bush, a former police officer in Charleston, W.Va., knows just how Libertini feels.
On Dec. 23, 1994, at 10:41 p.m. -- exactly 25 hours and 19 minutes before Christmas, he'll tell you -- Bush shot and killed a man named Franklin Knuckles.
Bush said Knuckles was drunk that night when police entered the garage apartment where he was holed up.
In similar fashion to what Bethel police say DellaVentura did, Knuckles ignored commands to drop his weapon. Instead, Bush said, Knuckles pointed a rifle at him and Bush fired one round in response.
Just like that, two lives changed forever.
"My shooting took place in this little 10-by-6 room. It might as well have been a firefight in a walk-in closet," said the 48-year-old Bush, who now lives in Cincinnati.
"Even after all this time, I look back and ask, 'Why did this happen?' You can't explain it because it doesn't make sense," Bush reflected. "In my case, I ended up retiring a little over a year after the shooting."
Almost 15 years later, Bush still attends therapy. He still takes medication for depression. He still battles post-traumatic stress syndrome (PTSD) and its demons, nightmares and flashbacks.
read more here
http://www.newstimes.com/ci_13655294
Monday, September 21, 2009
Deputies To Learn About Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
Deputies To Learn About Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
Law Enforcement Often First Professionals To Come In Contact With Ailing Soldiers
Last updated Sunday, September 20, 2009 11:55 PM CDT in News
By Anna Fry
THE MORNING NEWS
Benton County Sheriff's Office deputies will learn about veterans and post-traumatic stress disorder during special training scheduled for October.
"We're not going to turn them into mental health experts," said Vaughn DeCoster, team leader with the Fayetteville Veterans Center. "It's kind of sensitivity training, if you will."
DeCoster and two Veterans Affairs-affiliated nurses are providing the training. The training is mandatory for all deputies in the field, who are the sheriff's office employees most likely to deal with people with the disorder, said Capt. Mike Jones.
Deputies recently responded to a disturbance involving a recently-returned soldier with the disorder, Jones said. The man's family was complimentary of the deputies' handling of the situation but recommended training, he said.
The Sheriff's Office approached the center about the training and it's the first time it's been done, DeCoster said. The purpose is to educate deputies about soldiers returning from war and the community resources to which deputies can refer them.
The area doesn't have any big active-duty bases near, so soldiers returning from war can go unnoticed in public, he said.
"There are people out there that are suffering silently," DeCoster said.
All soldiers returning from war must decompress and adjust, he said. Just because soldiers are returning from combat and show symptoms doesn't mean they have post-traumatic stress disorder
read more here
http://www.nwaonline.net/articles/2009/09/21/news/092109bzptsd.txt
Law Enforcement Often First Professionals To Come In Contact With Ailing Soldiers
Last updated Sunday, September 20, 2009 11:55 PM CDT in News
By Anna Fry
THE MORNING NEWS
Benton County Sheriff's Office deputies will learn about veterans and post-traumatic stress disorder during special training scheduled for October.
"We're not going to turn them into mental health experts," said Vaughn DeCoster, team leader with the Fayetteville Veterans Center. "It's kind of sensitivity training, if you will."
DeCoster and two Veterans Affairs-affiliated nurses are providing the training. The training is mandatory for all deputies in the field, who are the sheriff's office employees most likely to deal with people with the disorder, said Capt. Mike Jones.
Deputies recently responded to a disturbance involving a recently-returned soldier with the disorder, Jones said. The man's family was complimentary of the deputies' handling of the situation but recommended training, he said.
The Sheriff's Office approached the center about the training and it's the first time it's been done, DeCoster said. The purpose is to educate deputies about soldiers returning from war and the community resources to which deputies can refer them.
The area doesn't have any big active-duty bases near, so soldiers returning from war can go unnoticed in public, he said.
"There are people out there that are suffering silently," DeCoster said.
All soldiers returning from war must decompress and adjust, he said. Just because soldiers are returning from combat and show symptoms doesn't mean they have post-traumatic stress disorder
read more here
http://www.nwaonline.net/articles/2009/09/21/news/092109bzptsd.txt
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
Military leaders, first responders learn about PTSD
Combining these groups is one of the best things they could do because it's great to know they have plenty of company living with this misery. Feeling alone is a terrible thing but finding each other, well, strength comes from numbers.
Military leaders, first responders learn about PTSD
Posted: Sep 2, 2009 07:53 PM EDT
by ABC-7 Reporter/Anchor Celina Avila
EL PASO, Texas -- In an attempt to increase awareness about post-traumatic stress disorder, military leaders and first responders in our community were invited to a symposium at Sierra Providence Medical Center.
Firefighters on harnesses at the scene of a bad crash. An elderly couple murdered, allegedly in front of children. A deadly shooting of an high-schooler, allegedly by a Fort Bliss soldier in need of mental help.
Those are not only recent headlines but actual emergencies. "Everybody looks at you and expects you to be the strong one," said El Paso police officer Michael Baranyay.
A somber video detailed the reality of war was shown to various law enforcement agencies. The video shed light on post-traumatic stress disorder and how it can affect the tough men and women we look to protect us.
read more here
http://www.kvia.com/Global/story.asp?S=11037494&nav=menu193_2
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