The relentless rolling of camera phones is a new source of stress for Edmonton police officers already coping with trauma, conflict, and death, city police Chief Rod Knecht said.

“Everybody’s out there trying to capture that YouTube moment of our police officers maybe not doing something right, maybe doing something right,” Knecht said at a Saturday event to discuss the stigma surrounding mental health problems in emergency responders and members of the military.

“That continuous accountability, continuously being in the public eye, and that having to be infallible … it puts a lot of pressure on our police officers, and contributes to their mental health.”

Last week, when an Edmonton officer was getting beaten up by an assailant, several people stopped to record the struggle on their phones before a citizen pulled over and leaped in to help, Knecht said.

“(Police) always want to do the right thing, but circumstances don’t always allow us. Confrontation is a difficult situation,” Knecht said.

The Lieutenant-governor’s Circle on Mental Health and Addiction hosted the Saturday event at McDougall United Church, which featured police, fire, EMS, and military brass, mental health experts, and a paramedic and firefighter turned artist. Much of the stigma associated with mental health problems among front-line workers is imposed by the workers themselves, who fear showing signs of weakness, speakers said.

When Knecht began his policing career in the late 1970s as an RCMP officer in Saskatchewan, admitting to experiencing distress from a traumatic event was the “kiss of death” for an officer’s career, he said.

Although the culture has improved, it’s far from perfect, Knecht said. Statistically, about 56 Edmonton police officers could be experiencing PTSD each year, yet, the force has just a handful of workers’ compensation claims for the condition each year, he said.

A 2013 survey organized by the Canadian Armed Forced and Statistics Canada found around 11 per cent of the military’s regular forces met the criteria for post-traumatic stress disorder at some point in their career, said General John Vance, the military’s chief of defence staff.

For at least 10 years, the military has tried to change its culture and combat the silent enemy of mental illness lurking in its ranks, Vance said.

Last year, 17 Canadian Forces members committed suicide, he said. Medical staff investigate every case.

“We feel each loss incredibly. These were our colleagues and our friends,” Vance said.

Edmonton Fire Chief Ken Block said firefighters’ willingness to talk about the effect of the traumas they witness on the job will go a long way to help them ditch the stigma.

Block, Knecht, Vance, and Alberta’s chief paramedic outlined steps each organization is taking to screen their workers for mental health crises, train them to recognize and deal with the issue, and attempts to improve support for workers and their families.

“Our country is ready to eliminate the stigma around mental illness and work together,” Vance said. “I think we’ve only just begun.”

jfrench@postmedia.com

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