Law Enforcement Suicide Awareness

December 2020 article: “From our experience, white males make up the greatest percentage of those committing suicide, followed by African Americans and Hispanics,” stated Sheriff Wayne Ivey, who heads the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office (BCSO). 

"Widely chronicled, societal and traditional male gender roles discourage emotional expression and encourage “toughing it out” for men, who largely shoulder their worries in silence, worrying privately about work stressors, financial or legal issues, military service or the breakdown of an important interpersonal relationship. They are more likely to self medicate, with a mental illness going undiagnosed or properly treated." Anthony Ferretti, PhD. 

Our agency is in a very delicate situation that needs a response from its leaders. A response like this article from 2020 geared towards students. Our first responders need to hear from the top down that it is okay to ask for help and to please reach out. *Minus the exclamation points.  

The lack of public acknowledgement from some of our prominent leaders that peer support and mental health awareness is vital to our survival in this profession baffles me.  This will be a topic of discussion asked at every political rally in the upcoming voting season, and the candidates for various positions who make it part of their platform will have my support. 

As a deputy, veteran, advocate for mental health and well-being, graduate student of crisis response and trauma counseling,  and Critical Incident Stress Management team member, I assure you people give a damn and we have resources . I implore everyone who is hurting to please seek help. We have to keep showing up for those who no longer can ❤️

Private message me, I'll send you resources, meet with you to talk, give you my # to check in, or just want me to pray with you.

In the comments I encourage everyone to link and share their area mental health resources. It can save a life. 

#showup #giveadamn #SuicideAwareness

https://spacecoastliving.com/addressing-a-community-health-crisis-understanding-and-preventing-suicide/

Midnight First Responder Devotional

Tonight, we pray for the First Responder who is struggling with something in their personal lives.  From the frontlines to the support staff of our law enforcement, military, and medical professions, these First Responders rush to the aid of others, offering resources and providing hope in a crisis.  

These men and women are the light in our darkest hours.  They give up their free time, and free up their sleep time to help complete strangers.  All while carrying the weight of their personal world on their shoulders.  

If you stop and look at our first responders, without the symbols and uniforms they wear for their profession, you’ll see men and women who look a lot like yourself.  A parent, a child, a sibling, a friend.  They stand next to you in line at the grocery store, sit next to you in a waiting room, sing praises with you at church on Sundays, and drive in the lanes next to you on the highways. 

Now think about the stressors in your personal lives.  Finances, health, relationships, loved ones who need your attention as much as work demands it.  Our first responders face these same personal stressors, and still show up to deal with yours.  

Let us lift our first responders up when they become exhausted, weary and overwhelmed.  Lord, grant them peace of mind and calm their troubled hearts.  

“Can anyone one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life? …. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself.  Each day has enough trouble of its own.” Matthew 6:27 and 34

Midnight First Responder Devotional

Tonight, we pray for the First Responder who struggles with stepping out of their role as “one of the guys” and into the role of supervision.  There are good men and women who do great work in their field and are promoted according to the standards set by their agency/employer; however, they soon realize the decisions they now have to make are not just about their immediate squad/unit, but about the agency/company as a whole.  This can lead to dissent and distrust from people you used to serve with and are now tasked to lead.  

Stepping into the role of supervision is very different than leadership.  There are great leaders among the ranks, some of them the lowest rank, then there are supervisors who are great leaders but struggle with the administrative duties required of them.  This new role requires them to change how they communicate and build a different level of trust.  It’s a balancing act to serve your subordinates and satisfy your superiors.  

We pray for wisdom and guidance to make the necessary decisions that support the best outcome for those in their charge and their agencies.  Show them the support and understanding of the people they serve, and give them humility and hope to continue to grow into great leaders.

"Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others." Philippians 2:3-4

Midnight First Responder Devotional

Tonight, we pray for the First Responder being called to active duty.  The men and women who signed the dotted line to serve our country, to provide peace and protection to our citizens at home and abroad.  

In the uncertainty of civil unrest, chaos of war, and greed of mankind, we send them off to fight in a country that so many of our military sacrificed their lives for in the past two decades.  Our veterans are heartbroken and angry, our families are scared and frustrated.  Less than a month away from one of the darkest days in American history, 9-11-01 is being revived in our memories with a sharp pain of truth…evil exists.  

As we watch our first responders rush to the call for help abroad, we give thanks and praise to God for His protection over the men and women who fly the planes, carry the gear, run the communications, provide the resources and reconnaissance, shield the helpless and hopeless.  Our freedoms depend on the brave who stand up the tyranny of governments. 

May the devil lose his grip in this battle.  Give strength and endurance to our first responders, military, and support walking this path God has made for them.  Bring our men and women home safe from the evils of the world, and give them a clear mind free from the horrors they face.  

“Blessed be the Lord, my rock, who trains my hands for war and my fingers for battle.” Psalm 144:1

#showup #purposefilledlife #prayforourfirstresponders

Midnight First Responder Devotional

Tonight we pray for the first responders answering calls for service in these uncertain times. Society has been divided by fear and misinformation, and prominent figures in society have targeted our men and women serving on the frontlines of our communities. 

There are calls for service which require instant action, often times first responders are having to go hands on exposing them to the unknown.  The unknown is part of the job. Those who choose this profession aren't dismissive of that fact, it's just not something they dwell on in order to keep showing up. 

May God's grace and mercy cover them all as they work according to His will.  

"Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes."

-Ephesians 6:10-11

#showup #purposefilledlife #prayforourfirstresponders

Midnight First Responder Devotional

Tonight we pray for the first responder who answers the call for help with a calm voice from the broken, scared, down trodden, and injured.  The dispatchers/communication officers who receive the calls from angry, irrational, suicidal, lost souls.  These voices of hope are the last voice some hear when they call out for help.  The final sound a victim may hear before they disconnect.  

Dispatchers have to piece together what our front line warriors are facing as they send them to the unknown.  Their adrenaline and stress responses are very similar to what their counterparts on the other end of the radio transmissions are experiencing, as they are staring at multiple screens and phone lines providing all available resources and more information to the listeners than they are able to elicit from the chaos on scene.  

Often left to guess what happens on calls for service, because they see nothing more than the typed closure "case report" in CAD comments, after hours of investigation and resources.  Pulled from one angry phone caller, to another frantic caller, to silence on a line after a gunshot...  We pray for the dispatchers / communication officers who show up every single shift to be the voice checking our well being and sending us backup when we're unable to call for it ourselves.  

To some they're a voice on the line, to us they're a lifeline.  In one of my hardest moments of this career the voice that asked, "10-13?" was when I knew I was going to be okay.  

"And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose." Romans 8:28

#showup #purposefilledlife #prayforourfirstresponders

Midnight First Responder Devotional

Tonight, we pray for the First Responders who show up every single shift to protect our communities from the terrible realities of evil.

In today's public service our law enforcement officers are placed in a position of authority without the necessary support to execute that authority. The negative portrayal of the profession has  left many law enforcement agencies defeated, and good LEOs walking away. The ones who stay are tired. They gather every ounce of worth it takes to deal with the public, poor leadership, personal problems, and still remain professional. 

Humanity needs protectors. We need the good to fight the evil that lurks in the dark, and especially the evil that boldly sits in plain sight.  We are not prepared to survive the wrath that will come when good men and women are no longer able to uphold the law. 

We pray for strength and endurance, understanding, courage, hope, and peace over our first responders.  May you all continue to show up, know you're appreciated, and worth every "thank you" and "we love you" that is spoken. 

"Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers." Galatians 6:9-10

#showup #purposefilledlife #prayforourfirstresponders