PHOENIX — Valley law enforcement has a new tool to help combat Post Traumatic Stress Disorder among first responders.
At the Phoenix Region Police Academy on Thursday, police agencies from around the Valley gathered to learn more about processing the trauma they encounter on the job.
The ‘Bulletproof Spirit’ is a seminar, based on the book of the same name, that teaches first responders how to identify trauma they may have experienced and various exercises and treatments to help heal from the effects of that trauma.
The course was taught by the author Dan Willis, a 30-year police officer from the San Diego area.
Willis says the course is to help law enforcement become more aware of the effects of daily trauma.
“I like to say the effects of trauma are very much like a cancer,” Willis’s said. “It just slowly eats away at an officer’s ability to be normal and to be able to respond to life in a constructive and healthy way.”
Willis says that roughly 20% of police officers suffer from PTSD causing them to be less focused and have a greater chance of the use of excessive force.
Nationally, Police and firefighters are more likely to die by suicide than in the line of duty. Nearly a quarter of all 911 operators also show signs of depression, according to the Center’s for Disease Control.
Phoenix Police say they are always looking for proactive ways to help first responders cope with traumatic incidents.
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