CARMEL – The Carmel Police Department hosted a Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) seminar last week that highlighted the causes of PTSD in law enforcement officers and what those affected officers can do to protect their mental and emotional health as well as the mental and emotional well-being of their families. Carmel police were assisted by the Public Employer Risk Management Association (PERMA) and featured Cattagarus County Sheriff Timothy Whitcomb as the speaker.
The all-day event at the Putnam County Bureau of Emergency Services Training and Operations Center (TOPS) is where more than 50 officers from Putnam, Dutchess, Rockland, and Westchester Counties listened to Whitcomb speak about the causes of PTSD, which are a major contributing factor in the rate of police officer suicides, which, in recent years, has surpassed the rate of officers killed in the line of duty.
Sheriff Whitcomb, in his fourth term as Sheriff of Cattaraugus County outside of Buffalo, is a nationally known speaker on this topic and is sought after for his very engaging, highly personal presentation.
Carmel Police Chief Anthony Hoffmann thanked Sheriff Whitcomb and the troopers, deputies, officers, and probation officers for coming to the seminar for this vital topic. “Our officers cannot help the public if they are injured themselves, and PTSD is no different than any physical injury our men and women face on the street,” said Chief Hoffmann. The chief also mentioned the recent introduction of the Carmel Police Department’s Peer Support Team and that the team has been deployed twice recently, once to offer aid to a nearby police agency and also to offer assistance to a member of the public experiencing a psychiatric crisis. As Sheriff Whitcomb said during the seminar, the goal of the presentation and of groups like the Peer Support Team is “to protect and serve those who protect and serve.”
