LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — The fifth annual Nationwide Regulation Enforcement Survival Summit is underway on the Palace Station Lodge and On line casino in Las Vegas.
It was hosted by The Wounded Blue, a nationwide nonprofit devoted to supporting injured and disabled officers. Practically 200 officers from throughout the nation got here along with one objective – therapeutic. It’s not nearly resilience however wellness.
The convention teaches officers easy methods to shield extra than simply their lives within the area. The occasion is about bodily, emotional, and psychological well being, monetary stability, and profession survival.
“The suicide rate among American law enforcement officers – it’s astronomical,” Randy Sutton founder and retired lieutenant mentioned. “Many of these officers, once they become severely injured in the line of duty, they feel alone, they feel forgotten. They’re not given the resources that they need.”
That’s why Sutton began The Wounded Blue – to attach officers and their households with important sources and peer help.
“When a police officer is hurting, their family is hurting as well,” Sutton mentioned. “Just because you’ve hung up your badge and your gun doesn’t mean that the pain has stopped.”
Retired Metro lieutenant Cindy “Ci” Rodriguez is aware of the ache firsthand. She joined the pressure again in 1989 and rapidly discovered to cover her struggles with melancholy and PTSD – even after retirement.
“It was because I didn’t deal with it; I pushed it down. I had been trained not to ask for help and to keep things to myself,” mentioned Rodriguez. “We used to joke around and say, ‘I’ve seen it all’ and then you would go out inevitably and you would see something else that really rocked your world.”
However Sutton mentioned the silence is lastly being damaged.
“We pushed it away for years. We ignored our suicide rate. We ignored our mental and emotional health, but that’s changing,” mentioned Sutton.
That change is life-saving for officers like Andy Rodriguez. Simply two years in the past, he was ambushed within the line of obligation.
“I was shot point-blank. Lost hearing in my right ear; my right ear ruptured,” mentioned Rodriguez. “I actually lost all my blood. I was pulseless for 10 minutes. I had no pulse; essentially, I was gone.”
Rodriguez was shot a dozen instances but survived. Now, he’s utilizing his second likelihood to assist others overcome and heal their wounds – each seen and invisible.
“To know that you have that support and people are willing to help you just makes a world of a difference,” mentioned Rodriguez.
“There’s been a sea change in the acceptance that mental and emotional help is something that needs to be talked about,” mentioned Sutton.
The survival summit is being held each day at Palace Station by Thursday. It’s open to all energetic and retired regulation enforcement officers.
