This week’s “Thankful Thursday” would like to recognize Director James Ellis of Legacy Productions for his documentary, ” Keeping the Peace” as a way of promoting mental health services among emergency workers while also helping the community understand the trauma often experienced by law enforcement officers. Many have lost colleagues to suicide, had people die in their arms, seen horrifying injuries and had to tell family members about a loved one’s death. It has taken a toll on law enforcement officers, firefighters and other first-responders. Many local San Diego area police chiefs participated in the filming of the documentary to include interviews of police officers from various departments who has experienced emotional trauma on the job.

The documentary premiered last week at the University of San Diego before an audience to include police officers, sheriff’s deputies and paramedics. In a panel discussion to address suicide, El Cajon Police Chief Jeff Davis, “I think it’s ironic that we spend so many resources in our police academy and in service training recognizing potential threats and taking measures to mitigate them with policies, practices and procedures, but in 2018 more of us took our own lives than were killed in the line of duty,” he said. “So where’s the threat?”

When San Diego Police Chief David Nisleit speaks to his officers, he says, “I need a healthy you. I need a healthy you at home. I need a healthy you at work. It’s OK for you to go and talk. In fact, I want you to go talk to those folks.”

Sara Gilman, a mental health critical-incident responder who has worked with law enforcement emphasize the importance of making mental health care available for first responders. Gilman said, “There has been significant progress over the past 30 years in making counselors, peer-support and chaplains available when they are needed. I have seen the look of fear and sadness in officers’ eyes when they have come upon the last and latest wreckage of the human condition. Their reaction is not the problem. This is their humanity. Their compassionate hearts being exposed to human pain and suffering over and over and over for decades. And they say it’s just part of the job.”