Montgomery County has programs to assist its police officers who are experiencing mental issues. There are other police officers to talk to and doctors and various county officials to speak with, said Assistant Chief David McBain.
Between Sunday and Monday, one county police officer was involved in a 15-hour standoff that led to that officer’s hospitalization.
There is a lot of stress and many challenges in police work, noted Executive Marc Elrich. “It takes its toll on people.” He added, “We try and put the programs in place to help people.”
McBain noted that the department has “a lot of support,” including from peers and doctors. “Officers can get the help that they need.”
Police are trained to know what to do should they experience distress or notice a fellow officer experiencing problems, and officers “do a good job about identifying issues as they arrive,” he said.
According to McBain, the average person may experience one or two traumatic incidents during a lifetime. Officers, on the other hand, often experience 800 to 900 such incidents during their career.
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