Armor Up! A Weekly Series

CEO Joseph Hunter, M.A. - Cycles of Change

Safe Call Now was off to Palmdale, CA this week to visit with Cycles of Change and met with an incredible staff.  What struck me immediately was their CEO Joseph Hunter, M.A. and his view on life, how he prepares his staff and how that translates to providing the most outstanding services to our first responders and their family members.  What really sets them apart is their ability to focus on healing the entire family and not just the impacted client.  He’s right, if the whole system isn’t treated it will break down again.  Their unique multiple modalities of treatment demonstrates to me that they’re not a “one size fits all” type of therapy and that the individual is truly placed first.  Clinical staff relates to clients on a “human” level which is a special gift in this arena.  They have dedicated facilities specific for first responders in California and have an office in Las Vegas as well.

Cycles of Change in conjunction with Safe Call Now offers a "FREE FAMILY PROGRAM" for first responders as well. Stress. Anxiety. Fear. Helplessness. Anger. Combine these emotions with mounting expenses related to property damage, legal trouble and hospital bills, and it’s easy to understand why family members often begin to feel hostile or resentful toward their loved ones.

“We believe that the family suffers just as much as the person that is affected. One of the things that sets us apart is that we are very family focused – we concentrate on getting the whole entire family to recover".

For more information call Darcy Yurek at: 661-902-8005 or email her at dyurek@cocrehab.com

Safe Call Now also launched in Partnership with Rosecrance its “Teen Program” this week.  This is a gap in the healthcare system that’s been overlooked for far too long.  Let's get honest after recent events, sometimes our children struggle. Whether it be with anxiety, depression, PTSD, substance abuse or complex issues they can suffer just like the rest of us. They don't have to as we have a program specifically designed for their needs ages 13-20. Our children deserve this help. For more info and immediate help call:

Lisa Primm at 815-529-3907 or email her at lprimm@roscrance.org
 
Safe Call Now officially accepted and is #honored to be presenting at the Annual NAWLEE (National Association of Women Law Enforcement Executives) Conference and LAWPOA Symposium in Los Angeles, CA on August 3^rd, 2018 to the finest members of the international law enforcement community. 

Off to Topeka, Kansas to Keynote at the Kansas Narcotics Officers Association Conference

#ArmorUp

Firefighters Do It Better...

By Metropolitan Alliance of Police Board Member John Holiday

That’s right I said it. In fact the small town volunteer fire departments do it best. What do they do? They take care of each other and themselves. They debrief after each critical incident they handle. They talk about what went when well, what went bad, and what images they would like to erase from their mind.

What do we do? We get back in our squad, by ourselves, and go to the same domestic battery call we go to every week. You know the one. The one where the couple wants you to fix 10 years of abuse in 5 minutes.

Sean Riley, the founder of Safe Call Now, recently spoke at our annual seminar.  He talked about how we are trained to do the job the vast majority of the population are unwilling or unable to do.

Think about it. There are 325 million people in the United States of which only 765,000 are sworn law enforcement officers. That’s 0.2%. We take 0.2% of the general population and train them to not think like the rest of the population.  We train your brain to do the exact opposite of what other people’s brains tell them to do. We train you to run toward the gunfire, run toward the danger, and go down into the dark basement where someone is screaming for help. We train you to have a “Warrior Mindset.” Then at the end of a 12 hour shift, we expect you to turn it all off, forget everything that happened, and go back and function with the other 99.8% of the population. We are very good at training you how to do the job, but we have zero training on how to go home at night. 

Peer Support & Vicarious Traumatization

By Sgt. Christopher Scallon - Institute for Responder Wellness

Originally posted 5/23/16 on the International Association of Chief’s of Police blog 

Law enforcement has found itself adrift within the “perfect storm” of public mistrust, increasingly violent encounters, and the one-dimensional social media soapbox. The struggle to maintain our bearing, for the purposes of establishing some semblance of order and trust amidst such disdain is taking its toll. The vast majority of law enforcement professionals are just that…professional. It is because of these professionals that I am honored to be a part of an internal system tasked with addressing the inherent exposure to trauma by officers experienced on all fronts; peer support.

As a trauma survivor of a deadly force encounter, I can attest to the need for peer support. At the time, no formalized peer support unit existed for me to utilize. However, friends and a strong wife (also in law enforcement) helped me to find my way again. It was during my shooting review board that a respected supervisor pulled me aside and assured me that I would recover and I would eventually use my personal experience to help others.

Challenge Accepted!!! 
The next few years were dedicated to obtaining the academic qualifications, certifications, and revisiting my experiences with the new eyes of a trauma-informed professional. I became a peer for several non-profit organizations and reached out to anyone I knew was involved in a critical incident. Unfortunately, my greatest opposition to providing help was the stigma associated with asking for it. It was clear, I needed to become a champion for change by sharing my uncensored experiences. I requested to teach a block of instruction for all new recruits titled, “Survival Mindset: Preparing for and Learning to Survive Trauma.” Pleasantly surprised, I was met with an overwhelming interest and acceptance of the concepts. A single class evolved into a sought-after presentation to surrounding police academies, and eventually around the country.

The Hidden Dangers of Working Sex Crimes

By Safe Call Now's Dr. Laura Brodie

Working sex crimes is a necessity to protect the innocent and vulnerable.  The sexual crimes of human trafficking, child pornography, prostitution and child molestation are crimes that devastate victim’s lives and destroy trust. Individuals working these crimes do so in order attempt to stop the devastation.  However, there has been little attention given to the psychological damage that can be created by performing these investigations.

The human brain was not designed to undergo the trauma of a sexual crime.  Looking at images, listening to victims and interrogating perpetrators of these offenses leave marks on the psyche that are somewhat subtle at first, but can develop into psychological difficulties that are more profound. There Is a phenomena of secondary trauma that can occur where the investigator develops symptoms similar to the victim.  A development of the feelings that the world is not safe creates fear, which may manifest itself in anxiety, depression, isolation or numbness as a reaction to the atrocities the officer has to endure in the course of an investigation.

We as humans are relational beings and intimacy is part of our psychological make up.  When someone is exposed to the perversion of intimacy it can result in changes in their own relationships, anywhere from repulsion of intimacy itself to believing everyone is sexually disturbed and it’s just a matter of time before it occurs.  The violation of something so private as feelings regarding relationships is tragic. Wanting to help others and save victims turns the helper into another victim of the perversion. 

Few if any departments recognize the toll sex crimes plays on the ones doing the investigations.  There is little if any down time between cases and debriefing is not a thought. The accumulation of numerous accounts of these types of crimes can result in a build–up of trauma and numbness to others develops as a self-protection mechanism.  The problem with this numbing is that it is not under conscious control and not only happens on the job but carries over to personal relationships.  There is rarely a discussion how the job affects the home life of law enforcers in general, let alone what sex crime work does to the private lives of the investigators. 

Investigators need to protect what they have at home because that is who will be there at the end of the day. 

The United Socialist Republic of Seattle???

Safe Call Now

Ahhhh, did I catch your attention???  It’s not what you think!!!  I’ve been very blessed to have traveled this great country and Keynote in 43 states.  I also travel with speakers from Seattle and each of us run into the same thing at conferences from the participants.  When I mention that I’m from the greater Seattle area (I’ve since moved), people always say, “So you’re from that socialist city and state.”  At first I was caught off guard by these kind of comments but the more I presented the more often I heard the same thing over and over as did my counterparts from Seattle.

I started asking around and inquiring why people thought this way.  Many informed us that they felt that Seattle had an over the top liberal, elitist attitude catering to special interest groups and attempted to demonstrate that they were “better” than anyone else in the country.  The more I traveled I started to realize there may be something to this in regards to mental health and substance abuse treatment.  I deal with these issues for first responders on a nationwide level.  Seattle and the State of Washington is a very progressive city and state.

One area that disappoints me and I am going to challenge the cities, counties, State Legislature and the Governor to step up their game in regards to mental health and substance abuse treatment not only for first responders but for the entire general population.  I was shocked to see the services and treatment offered in other states and how far superior they are to those in the State of Washington.  As an organization we are blessed to be working with the finest facilities and individuals in the country and did so because we opened our eyes and went out and searched to see what was out there.

States that most people think are regressive far exceed any treatment platform that currently is in place in Washington State.  I have to ask myself why this is even possible due to the fact that this state believes in helping those that are afflicted in the disease model.  I have to guess maybe it’s because they haven’t seen what we have seen in person to understand that the care out there is what everyone in this state as well as other states deserves.

So here’s my call to action!!!  Seattle, the State of Washington, open your eyes, seek, understand and not rest on our laurels when it comes to getting help.  Reach out and see what other states have to offer and most of all let’s remove the stigma attached to what the State of Washington has to offer and go out and save lives like no other!!!