N.J. leads the way in combating G.I. suicide
Jan. 27, 2012
Written by
Gene Racz
Staff Writer
PISCATAWAY — Now that $40 million has been secured in the final 2012 federal budget to support military suicide prevention efforts, some involved in the legislative process are left wondering why it took so long to pass Congress.
Of the funds, $20 million will support suicide prevention efforts for active-duty soldiers and reservists at the Department of Defense, while the other $20 million will support veterans suicide prevention at the Department of Veterans Affairs.
Activities funded may include outreach to vulnerable soldiers and veterans through TV, radio and social media, as well as direct suicide intervention efforts.
Part of the legislation, first introduced by Rep. Rush Holt, D-N.J., in 2010, was originally entitled the “Sergeant Coleman Bean Reserve Component Suicide Prevention Act.” It passed the House of Representatives unanimously twice but was blocked by members of the Senate minority.
The delay was attributed to criticisms regarding the necessity of special programs for part-time soldiers, in addition to a suicide hotline, Vets4Warriors, which is run out of the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey in Piscataway.
read more here
Sunday, January 29, 2012
Colorado Springs homicide investigators look for answers after deadliest year ever
Colorado Springs homicide investigators look for answers after deadliest year ever
POSTED: 01/29/2012
By Sara Burnett
The Denver Post
COLORADO SPRINGS — The night was quickly going south.
Just after 8 p.m., a 60-year-old parolee had shot two people — killing one — in an AutoZone parking lot. Less than 20 minutes later, officers on a domestic-violence call shot a 21-year-old who threatened to kill his girlfriend and then pointed a gun at them.
Lt. Kirk Wilson, the man in charge of the Colorado Springs Police Department's homicide unit, was en route to that second shooting when the worst call of the night came in: Three teenagers, two of them brothers, had been shot, apparently victims of road rage.
Two of the young men already were dead. The third would be pronounced dead a short time later, making July 27, 2011, the deadliest night in what would turn out to be the deadliest year in Colorado Springs history.
There were 32 homicides here last year — a 33 percent increase over 2010 and four more than the previous record, set in 2007.
POSTED: 01/29/2012
By Sara Burnett
The Denver Post
COLORADO SPRINGS — The night was quickly going south.
Just after 8 p.m., a 60-year-old parolee had shot two people — killing one — in an AutoZone parking lot. Less than 20 minutes later, officers on a domestic-violence call shot a 21-year-old who threatened to kill his girlfriend and then pointed a gun at them.
Lt. Kirk Wilson, the man in charge of the Colorado Springs Police Department's homicide unit, was en route to that second shooting when the worst call of the night came in: Three teenagers, two of them brothers, had been shot, apparently victims of road rage.
Two of the young men already were dead. The third would be pronounced dead a short time later, making July 27, 2011, the deadliest night in what would turn out to be the deadliest year in Colorado Springs history.
There were 32 homicides here last year — a 33 percent increase over 2010 and four more than the previous record, set in 2007.
The other major cause for alarm were the deaths of seven children, all 2 years or younger. In each case, police arrested a parent or caregiver.
"We had way too many of those," said 4th Judicial District Attorney Dan May, whose district includes Colorado Springs.
Many of those cases involved families with ties to Fort Carson, May said. And most were not families that had prior contact with county human services.
"I think a lot of these are parents who couldn't believe they did this — who never would have seen themselves doing something like this, except for in that one moment," May said.
El Paso County Commissioner Sallie Clark, a military wife, said many military families face the added stress of deployment or the return of a service member. Because of the transient nature of the population, they may not have the support system they need.
read more here
Biden visits Pendleton's wounded Marines
Biden visits Pendleton's wounded Marines
CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. -- Vice President Joe Biden visited with wounded Marines and their families at the Warrior Hope and Care Center at Camp Pendleton Friday, calling this generation of warriors the finest the world has ever seen.
read more here
CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. -- Vice President Joe Biden visited with wounded Marines and their families at the Warrior Hope and Care Center at Camp Pendleton Friday, calling this generation of warriors the finest the world has ever seen.
read more here
JBLM: Crowded base posted highs for DUI, misdemeanor crimes in 2011
JBLM: Crowded base posted highs for DUI, misdemeanor crimes in 2011
By Associated Press
JOINT BASE LEWIS-MCCHORD — With a full base for the first time in a decade and more soldiers stationed here than ever before, Joint Base Lewis-McChord last year recorded new highs for misdemeanor crimes and for offenses involving driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs, according to statistics provided to The News Tribune.
Felonies and domestic violence crimes were up in 2011 compared with the previous year but were down significantly compared with 2008.
The statistics reflect crimes committed on and off base.
The local numbers are not dramatically different than Armywide trends, although the Army last year did see a small decline in total misdemeanor offenses after a six-year high.
Commanders are reluctant to draw conclusions from the local numbers because Lewis-McChord has more active-duty soldiers than it’s had in recent memory. Its 34,000 active-duty soldiers represent 15,000 more service members than were stationed here in 2003.
“We did not see any increase in crime that we do not normally attribute to the increase in population,” Col. Bob Taradash, Lewis-McChord’s top military police officer, said in an interview before his latest deployment to Afghanistan.
However, the consequences of those crimes appear to be increasing, as the military enters a time of reducing its forces and tightens its standards for staying in uniform.
read more here
By Associated Press
JOINT BASE LEWIS-MCCHORD — With a full base for the first time in a decade and more soldiers stationed here than ever before, Joint Base Lewis-McChord last year recorded new highs for misdemeanor crimes and for offenses involving driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs, according to statistics provided to The News Tribune.
Felonies and domestic violence crimes were up in 2011 compared with the previous year but were down significantly compared with 2008.
The statistics reflect crimes committed on and off base.
The local numbers are not dramatically different than Armywide trends, although the Army last year did see a small decline in total misdemeanor offenses after a six-year high.
Commanders are reluctant to draw conclusions from the local numbers because Lewis-McChord has more active-duty soldiers than it’s had in recent memory. Its 34,000 active-duty soldiers represent 15,000 more service members than were stationed here in 2003.
“We did not see any increase in crime that we do not normally attribute to the increase in population,” Col. Bob Taradash, Lewis-McChord’s top military police officer, said in an interview before his latest deployment to Afghanistan.
However, the consequences of those crimes appear to be increasing, as the military enters a time of reducing its forces and tightens its standards for staying in uniform.
read more here
Recent suicides highlight chronic stress officers face on the job
As much as veterans have hold of my heart, cops come in a very close second. There is a huge difference between the level and type of PTSD military and law enforcement personnel end up with. They do not just respond after the event happens. Their jobs require them to often participate in the event itself. They use weapons. They have to use violence in response to violence. They see others wounded and at the end of the day they wonder if tomorrow will be their day. Considering both professions come with a lot of hatred from too many people, it makes everything harder on them.
Wednesday I was speaking with a Chaplain for the Orlando police. He is a minister, a veteran and ex-motorcycle cop. He said that when a firefighter shows up, everyone is happy to see them but when a cop shows up, no one is happy. It usually means they are in trouble or totally upset because a crime has been committed against them.
The number of exposures to traumatic events add to all the stress they already feel.
Wednesday I was speaking with a Chaplain for the Orlando police. He is a minister, a veteran and ex-motorcycle cop. He said that when a firefighter shows up, everyone is happy to see them but when a cop shows up, no one is happy. It usually means they are in trouble or totally upset because a crime has been committed against them.
The number of exposures to traumatic events add to all the stress they already feel.
Recent suicides highlight chronic stress officers face on the job
BY MAUREEN FEIGHAN THE DETROIT NEWS
JANUARY 29, 2012
Greg O'Dell was a respected law enforcement official and a married father of two when he drove his car to a residential street in Scio Township two days before Christmas last month, got out, and killed himself.
O'Dell, 54, the chief of the Eastern Michigan University Police Department, never told his colleagues he suffered from depression. Now, a month after his death, the department is trying to move forward while struggling to understand why a man who seemed to have it all would take his own life.
"He never let on that he had any issue," said Bob Heighes, Eastern's interim police chief.
In the past month, three men from public safety careers have died of suicide in southeast Michigan. Some public safety officials say it highlights the chronic stress law enforcement officers face and the challenges of persuading them to get help.
On Jan. 6, Daniel Armitage, an Ann Arbor firefighter whose wife had been hospitalized with domestic abuse injuries, lay down in traffic on Interstate 696 and was killed. Three days later, a border patrol agent stationed in Gibraltar killed himself in the parking lot of a Trenton hospital.
Studies show police officers have a higher suicide rate than the public. About 140 to 150 police officers kill themselves each year, or 17 per 100,000, according to Badge of Life, a group of active and retired police officers, medical professionals and surviving families of suicides from the U.S. and Canada. The rate for the general population is 11 per 100,000.
"Police officers are human," said John Violanti, a research associate professor at the University of Buffalo who has studied the suicide rates of police, military personnel and firefighters. "They not only have to put up with life's usual struggles, they also have to put up with this job that exposes them to death, human misery, abused kids. They can't get rid of this baggage and it eats at them."
read more here
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)