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Ohio fraternal order calls for PTSD care for first responders

THE BLADE

Ohio fraternal order calls for PTSD care for first responders

COLUMBUS — The Fraternal Order of Police of Ohio is calling for post-traumatic stress disorder care for first responders, citing a Toledo police officer’s possible suicide.

In a statement released Thursday, the Ohio FOP highlighted the mental-health hardship officers face in their work, and said the order plans to work with lawmakers on a new bill to provide better resources to police who may be suffering in silence.

“If a police officer breaks his leg carrying an injured child to safety, workers’ comp is there to help him heal,” the Ohio FOP said. “If that same child dies a painful death in the officer’s arms, and the officer isn’t otherwise injured, there is no help for the officer to process and cope ... ”

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Toledo officer Jeffrey Payne, 53, died Tuesday in a possible suicide, according to the Toledo Police Department. Lucas County Sheriff John Tharp, whose office has investigated the death, said law enforcement throughout the country could benefit from expanded access to mental health services.

Graduates are sworn in during the 65th Toledo Police Academy graduation at the University of Toledo’s Nitschke Auditorium.
Photos by Jeremy Wadsworth
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When one of his own officers is showing signs of mental distress, or acting differently, Sheriff Tharp said, they try to get the officer assistance. But not everyone who needs help shows signs of it.

“You have to identify it first,” he said. “And identifying it can be a challenge.”

Officer Payne did not report to work as scheduled on Tuesday, which prompted a welfare check, police said, and indications are that the death was a suicide. He was hired by the Toledo Police Department on Jan. 24, 1997, and served in field operations most of his career.

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According to the not-for-profit organization Blue H.E.L.P., Inc., 159 officers across the country took their own life in 2018. A report released in April, 2018, by the Boston-based Ruderman Family Foundation found police and firefighters are at a heightened risk for depression and suicide compared with the general population.

Ohio FOP President Gary Wolske said that the system is broken and must be fixed.

“We mourn the tragic and senseless loss of our law enforcement brother in Toledo who saw no path to healing and turned to suicide,” Mr. Wolske said. “Enough is enough. There has to be another way — we have to work [to] fix what’s broken and to ensure that police officers have PTSD mental health coverage so that they get the help that they need.”

First Published February 28, 2019, 8:48 p.m.

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