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Police suicides raise questions about a hidden pandemic

By Clarence Page, Tribune Content Agency on

That’s like having a fire but being afraid to grab a bucket of water.

“I would say right now the amount of trauma that Chicago police officers see, compared to any other state or city right now, is so much higher that we need to do more comparatively than anybody else,” Dr. Carrie Steiner, a former Chicago police officer who became a licensed clinical psychologist, said in a telephone interview. Steiner opened the First Responders Wellness Center in Lombard, which she says is a first-of-its-kind practice in the country to offer mental health services exclusively to first responders. Former or current first responders provide the help.

“I think the police culture is changing. They see that they can reach out more for more help,” Steiner added. “But I think every officer I know is burned out and not doing well.”

That’s why I was calling. Like countless other people who have experienced suicide in their own families, I am constantly looking for reasons why.

Police suicide for many decades was an underreported story, partly because of the unwarranted shame that some cultures attach to such tragedies. Steiner began her center so first responders would have understanding ears to talk to.

“I think a lot of people have more than a little bit of an issue, they’re not coming forward,” she said. “And that scares me right now because, if you’re burnt out and depressed, you need to talk to somebody else and if you delay you’re going to think — incorrectly — that there’s nothing wrong with you.”

 

For many, the big question today: Can we demand police accountability while also remembering to support police in performing their sworn duty to serve and protect?

Steiner says police and the communities they serve need to learn from each other. “Just as police need to understand civilians, civilians also need to understand the pressure of being a police officer. If we’re trying to have a relationship but the dialogue doesn’t happen with both sides, it’s not going to work.”

Which sounds sort of like a marriage, except divorce is not an option in police-community relations. Instead, we sometimes have to stop, reintroduce ourselves to each other and work out a better relationship.

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(E-mail Clarence Page at cpage@chicagotribune.com.)


(c) 2020 CLARENCE PAGE DISTRIBUTED BY TRIBUNE MEDIA SERVICES, INC.

 

 

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