Record #: R2017-123   
Type: Resolution Status: Failed to Pass
Intro date: 2/22/2017 Current Controlling Legislative Body: Joint Committee: Finance; Public Safety
Final action:
Title: Call for Superintendent of Police, Commissioner of Human Resources and City Comptroller's Benefit Division to address mental health and suicide prevention initiatives, employee assistance programs and mental health assistance benefits offered to law enforcement officers
Sponsors: Burke, Edward M.
Topic: COMMITTEE/PUBLIC HEARINGS - Joint Committee - Finance and Public Safety
Attachments: 1. R2017-123.pdf
Related files: R2019-362

RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, suicide is a public health issue that affects people from all backgrounds and its impacts are far-reaching emotionally and economically, affecting families, friends, coworkers, and communities; and

WHEREAS, though the safety of law enforcement officers is paramount to all local and state governments, with the focus placed on their physical safety and wellness, the mental health and well-being of officers fails to receive the same focus and resources within the world of officer safety; and

WHEREAS, every year, more police officers take their own lives than are killed in the line of duty; and

WHEREAS, according to statistics from the Federal Bureau of Investigation and results from the 2012 National Study of Police Suicides, law enforcement officer deaths by suicide were twice as high compared to traffic accidents and felonious assaults during 2012; and

WHEREAS, in 2016, suicide claimed the lives of 108 police officers throughout the United States; and

WHEREAS, the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) ofthe United States Department of Justice issued a report on law enforcement suicide and mental health that will serve as a national strategy for suicide prevention by helping departments recognize the early warning signs and prevention protocols for at-risk officers; and

WHEREAS, the COPS report identifies stress points that can be attributed to the higher rate of law enforcement suicides and attempts of suicide: the exposure to horrific crime scenes and events, shift work causing sleep deprivation, facing an internal affairs investigation, and the accumulation of chronic stress from domestic violence calls, apprehension of criminals and assisting victims of crimes; and

WHEREAS, it is our duty as members of the Chicago City Council to prioritize both the physical and mental well-being of our officers and as a result improve relations with the public they serve and provide personal and professional fulfillment to the men and women who keep us safe; now, therefore

BE IT RESOLVED, that the Chicago City Council does hereby express our concern for the mental well-being of our officers and the staggering rates of suicide among all law enforcement; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the Joint Committee ofthe Committee on Finance and the Committee on Public Safety hereby calls upon Superintendent Eddie Johnson ofthe Chicago Police Department to appear before the aforementioned Joint Committee to address the

 

 

mental health and suicide prevention initiatives currently at work within the Chicago Police Department; and

Edward M. Burke, Alderman, 14th Ward

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the Commissioner ofthe Department of Human Resources and the City Comptroller's Benefit Division appear before this Joint Committee regarding Employee Assistance Programs (EAPs) and mental health assistance benefits offered to the City's law enforcement officers.