MAY 2023 - Blues Vol 39 No. 5

DR. TINA JAECKLE blue

DR. TINA JAECKLE blue mental health Providing a Lifeline: Call for Backup Throughout my career I have connected with some of the most inspirational individuals who have left a legacy of positive change through their mission to improve mental health and provide ongoing support to law enforcement officers. One such person is David Edwards who continues to offer a lifeline to officers throughout the nation. It is my honor to share his story this month. David R. Edwards is the founder and president of Call for Backup, a nonprofit organization that provides confidential peer support, resiliency training, and a free suicide awareness and prevention program for first responders. Call for Backup was originally started as a campaign from Humanizing the Badge, which recently merged with the Relentless Defender Foundation, and is now known as Project Humanize. David has over 40 years of experience in education and public speaking, and is presently employed by the Monroe Department of Public Safety in Michigan as the agency’s Wellness Officer. David is a member of the Association of Traumatic Stress Specialists, the American Academy of Experts in Traumatic Stress, and the International Law Enforcement Educators and Trainers Association. Humanizing the Badge was originally born out of three separate efforts to provide support and encouragement for police officers who were struggling under the weight and stress of the job. In 2014, David founded a Michigan nonprofit called The 227 Project - 227 was the badge number of his son Matthew, a police officer who was shot and killed in the line of duty on July 23, 2010 in their hometown of Taylor, Michigan. David’s other son Mike (who is better known as “Mike the Cop” on social media) began making humorous videos on Vine and also started a blog called CopLife. Around that same time, a police officer’s wife from the Texas panhandle (Elizabeth Ogden) wrote a viral article on Facebook called “Dear Officer, I See You” and started a Facebook page called The We See You Campaign. The “I See You” article was written in response to several high profile police incidents and the subsequent attacks on police officers across the country such as the ambush killing of two NYPD officers on December 20, 2014. Mike saw what Elizabeth had written, and Elizabeth also yrs. DR. TINA JAECKLE became aware of Mike’s work. They ended up connecting and ultimately forming a partnership that became known as Humanizing the Badge. Meanwhile, David was still focusing his local efforts on providing critical incident training and response and serving as a chaplain at the department his son Matt had been employed. Early in 2016, Mike and Elizabeth asked David to come on board at Humanizing the Badge to lead in the formation of a team that could provide confidential peer support online for officers and their family members as life continued to become more difficult for law enforcement everywhere. Within a year, The 227 Project changed its name to Humanizing the Badge, allowing the organization to grow as a nationwide nonprofit. While David assumed a leadership role as president of the organization, both Mike and Elizabeth held executive positions on the Board of Directors and continued to actively participate in the daily operations. Several initiatives were created, including the provision of workshops, seminars, and one-on-one support for first responders and their family members in the aftermath of tragedies and a suicide awareness and prevention campaign named Call for Back Up. In the fall of 2020, a new campaign was launched with another article on Facebook that went viral – Dear Officer: #WeNeedYou. David wrote that article in response to the record number of resignations and early retirements of police officers across the country, and the campaign was started to remind officers that they are needed, respected, and supported by millions of people across the country. People looking for a peer to speak with confidentially can connect with this resource by sending a message to the Call for Backup Facebook page at m.me/callforbackup.org. Those looking for information about online or live training programs can send an email to contact@callforbackup. org. David offered the following additional insight, “The unfortunate reality we face today is that while a number of organizations are advocating for changes in the way police departments approach the mental wellness needs of their officers, the officers themselves are still skeptical. According to research, about 80% of officers believe that there is still a stigma associated with reaching out for help for mental and emotional needs that is perpetuated by their peers. In other words, the culture of law enforcement (and other uniformed services) is such that officers convince themselves that they should be tough enough to handle the stresses of the job, including critical incidents, without having to seek treatment. Those who do seek treatment are often viewed (or view themselves) as weak or ineffective and approximately 90% of officers believe that this stigma is perpetuated by their own department. Anything we can do to help reduce the level of stigma associated with mental health in our ranks is better than ignoring the issue as has been the case for much too long”. 110 The BLUES The BLUES 111