JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Officers experience trauma on the job constantly. Now, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement is creating its first-ever mental health seminar to help address this problem.
A local sheriff says this is a much-need program for officers across the state and even right here at home. Last year in July, JSO announced they had one of them commit suicide while on duty.
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JSO posted this video over a month ago explaining an officer-involved shooting that happened in December. This is one case of trauma that officers go through every day.
“By the grace of God, I’m still standing here in front of you from trying to take my own life,” ‘Survive First’ president Doug Monda said.
Monda joined FDLE along with other agencies today in a press conference to address the stigma that has plagued officers for years.
Nassau County Sheriff Bill Leeper has felt it firsthand.
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“I had a good friend of mine when I was with the highway patrol, committed suicide,” Sheriff Leeper said. “And it’s someone I’d never thought would have done anything like that. But you don’t know what’s going through people’s minds.”
FDLE revealed the shocking numbers, today. In 2021, 41 officers in the state committed suicide - 14 of them were on active duty. In 2022, there were 48 – 12 active duty. And the most recent count for 2023, shows there have been 44 officer suicides – 10 of them active duty.
“What that tells us is over the last three years, every eight days, we have a law enforcement, corrections, or probation officer dying by suicide,” FDLE Deputy Commissioner Matthew Walsh said. “That’s one every eight days. And that’s quite frankly, it’s unacceptable.”
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Walsh says this new post-critical incident seminar is a clinically based education where everything will be confidential. And the entire retreat is free for law enforcement, corrections, and probation officers – plus their spouses.
“The goal is to illustrate that they’re not alone, their buddy, who may not be telling them anything, could be going through the same exact thing,” Walsh said.
People cope with trauma differently, and Sheriff Leeper says this program is long overdue. He says it’s time to protect the heroes who put their lives on the line to protect us.
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“They put their lives on the line,” Sheriff Leeper said. “They never know when they leave home that day, that they’ll come back... And we need to make sure that they’re there mentally and physically fit to do that.”
The three-day retreat starts this Thursday in St. Lucie County. FDLE organizers say it’s already full with 35 people participating.
Organizers say they plan to have this seminar at least four times a year. The next one is set for May.
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