SPOKANE, Wash. – Police officers are the first responders to some of the most difficult things a person can witness.
“An average person might experience one or two incidents in their lifetime, first responders are dealing with these over and over every single week,” Spokane Police Corporal Nick Briggs said. “Sometimes (they see) thousands (of incidents) over a 30-year career.”
According to a 2021 study published by the National Institutes of Health, police officers were 54% more likely to die from suicide than non-police officers.
However, it’s all first responders, not just police, who deal with the issue. On Monday, the Spokane Valley Fire Department responded to a house fire and dragged out two young children, unsuccessfully attempting to save their lives.
“We’re all hurting,” Spokane Valley Fire Chief Frank Soto Jr. said while choking up. “It’s never easy to go on a fire fatality, and it’s just incomprehensible when you have to go to a child that has died.”
To help combat the mental health toll of the job, Spokane Police has a peer assistance team, where officers are paired with trained colleagues to help them with everything from appointments to adjusting to day-to-day life after a traumatic event. The peer assistance program also gives officers an outlet to talk about difficult topics they might’ve otherwise kept inside.
“One of the biggest (advancements) is the progression in the industry of recognizing (the mental health toll),” Cpl. Briggs said. “Just compartmentalizing something, not dealing with it, is really the most dangerous thing. So bringing those feelings to the forefront and addressing them in a productive way is what allows officers to heal and to move on and to be productive.”
