In recent times, the police officers and police departments in the United States have been subjected to much scrutiny and criticism. While some of this criticism has been warranted, there are different causes for these problems besides just racism or being given power. The other cause that I am talking about is Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, or PTSD. It affects many in the law enforcement profession and is not just being ignored, but actively neglected. That is why I am writing this petition to the mayor and police chief of Salt Lake City. In this petition I will be describing the causes, effects, and my plan to remedy this problem.

First let us address the problem. The job of police officers is to protect their citizens from domestic crimes. They are the ones who try to stop or catch bank robbers, murderers, and various other criminals, so it should come as no surprise that they are afflicted with PTSD from being at crime scenes and doing their job. As a study says, “police experience stress from the physically dangerous and often violent nature of their employment” (Fell & Richard,1978, pg. 73,). With this though, they get access to treatment, but the problem is that they refuse it. The reason they refuse it is because of a police officer and society wide stigma on getting mental health treatment, which should not be stigmatized at all. It would be nice to have all of society destigmatize therapy, but it needs some place to start. Where better to start from than in a place that needs change and has people whose job is to defend people within the community? Besides that, bringing attention to this problem will fix many more issues and stereotypes relating to police.

What issues come with this situation though? To start, anger and anxiety. This may sound like a personal issue, but when people get anxious or angry, they tend to lash out. Some of the base symptoms of PTSD include, “persistent fear, horror, anger, guilt, or shame, reckless or self-destructive behavior, and exaggerated startle response”. This is according to the Anxiety and Depression Association of America. One other study that was studying police physical health made an important note with, “The prevalence of depression was nearly twice as high for the police officers as the general

population” (Andrew, burchfiel, fekedulegn, Hartley, Violanti,2016). These symptoms can explain some of the behaviors criticized for in the general media, whether it be shooting an unarmed citizen or escalating a situation with people in public areas. Police officers also deserve therapy since they are the people who ignore the risks and do their job in order to

keep their city as safe as they can. They deserve a happy life and the job they chose sometimes denies them that due to the unique risks and situations they must face combined with the fear that they cannot get help.

So how do we solve this issue? To start, this petition will help garner the attention and support this problem needs. Then the petition will be sent to the Chief of Police, the mayor for Salt Lake City and Utah’s senators. they will be forced to see just how much they need to address this issue.

After that, the last step is success. Only then will unjustified police shootings stop. Only then will the Blue Curtain start to rise. So please, sign this petition and help to change the police in the way it needs to change. Also if you do not live in Salt Lake City, then feel free to copy this entire petition and put in the correct names for your city and your representatives. All I ask is you spread the word.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hartley, T. A., Burchfiel, C. M., Fekedulegn, D., Andrew, M. E., & Violanti, J. M. (2011). Health disparities in police officers: comparisons to the U.S. general population. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4734372/

Bibliography

Richard, W. C., & Fell, R. D. (1978). Health factors in police job stress. Washington, D.C.: National Criminal Justice Reference Service.

Violanti, John M, et al. Journal of Police and Criminal Psychology, U.S. National Library of Medicine, Sept. 2018, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6477685/

Symptoms of PTSD. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://adaa.org/understanding-anxiety/posttraumatic-stress-disorder-ptsd/symptoms

(2018, March 25). Retrieved September 28, 2019, from https://youtu.be/VMhVK723zbU