*News
Release* Date: March 10, 2010
Middlesex
County Prosecutor’s Office
Law enforcement, families invited to seminar
On any typical day, a police officer may be called to walk down
a dark alley in search of a fleeing suspect, or quell a violent domestic dispute,
or approach a car that’s been reported stolen.
These
are among the many stressful situations that, over time, can take a terrible
toll on police officers and their families.
To
help officers deal with the stresses of the job, Middlesex County Prosecutor
Bruce J. Kaplan and Middlesex County Freeholder Mildred S. Scott are inviting
them to a day-long seminar at
More
than 530 law enforcement officers from New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania,
Massachusetts and Maryland have signed up to participate in the seminar, which
is designed to help them recognize the symptoms of stress and depression and
seek help before those maladies lead to suicide.
The
program is being sponsored by the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office, the
Middlesex County Board of Chosen Freeholders, the Middlesex County Police
Chiefs Association and MAGLOCLEN, a multi-state regional information sharing
system for police.
‘’We
are offering this training to help protect the brave men and women who work to
protect all of us on a daily basis,’’ said Freeholder Scott, Chairperson of the
County’s Law and Public Safety Committee. ‘’It is our hope that participants
will get the tools they need to deal with the pressures of the job in a safe
and productive way. Our officers’ safety and health are of the utmost
importance.’’
To
accommodate as many officers as possible, two sessions will be held, one on March
16, 2010, the other on March 18, 2010. Both programs will be offered from 8
a.m. to 4 p.m. at
Monroe Police Chief John J. Kraivec, president
of the Middlesex County Police Chiefs Association, has been encouraging
officers to attend. ‘’The training has to do with the stress of the job and a
lot of the things officers go through on a daily basis,’’ the chief said. ‘’We are
trying to get as many officers as we can to attend this very important training.’’
South
Brunswick Police Chief Raymond Hayducka, who is a past president of the county
chiefs association, said, ‘’Our association, in conjunction with Prosecutor
Kaplan, felt the training should be made available to officers in the hopes of
helping them deal with every day stress.’’
Clarke
Paris, a sergeant with the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police, and Tracie Paris, a
registered nurse assigned to a hospital emergency room and surgical unit, will
present a variety of topics.
Included
is a presentation on how untreated and undertreated stress and Post-Traumatic
Syndrome Disorder can disrupt the lives of police officers.
In
addition, the program will review police stress and depression, and will
underscore the fact that help is available and that officers should be
encouraged to seek assistance.
Participants
may register in advance by contacting the MAGLOCLEN Training Department,