Ombudsman slams OPP and government for lack of action on PTSD among officers

Ontario Ombudsman Andre Marin slams the Ontario Provincial Police and the Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services for being “reluctant” to acknowledge and take action to support police officers who suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder, likening the response to a “bureaucratic brush-off.”

In his long-awaited 155-page report called In the Line of Duty, which was released Wednesday, Marin said both the OPP and the ministry have shown little leadership in implementing proactive, preventive programs to help officers.

He makes 34 recommendations, 28 of them directed at the OPP alone, that focus on the need to confront the stigma in the police culture, increase psychological services available to officers and to develop province-wide programs aimed at preventing and dealing with operational stress injuries and suicide.

He calls on the OPP to conduct a comprehensive review of its education, training, peer support, employee assistance and other programming related to these injuries.

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1 comment:

J said...

Definitely an important issue that needs more attention and action. I hope that it also extends to correctional officers who experience the same problems, but also to individuals of "the general public" and those who are involved in the criminal justice system who suffer from PTSD (b/c there are definitely a lot of them). They also need to receive more help, but I'm not sure that many of them are seen in the same light as police officers who have PTSD (ie. may not be seen as deserving of help).