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The JacksonJune 2019Nashville Fraternal Order of PoliceInside this IssueFOP Family DayFOP Free CollegeUpcoming TrainingCPR ProgramBack The Badge EventBoard Member MessageUpcoming EventsGeneral Meeting:7.8.2019FOP Camp #47.7-13.19FOP Camp #27.14-20.19FOP Camp #37.21-27.19FOP Family Day7.24.19
2019 FOP Golf 2019 FOP Youth CampThe 2019 FOP camp season is underway. We have just wrapped up our third week. If you identify a child that you think would benefit from our FOP camp, please contact Allen Herald at fopallen@aol.com for information.
The FOP Members pool is officially open for the season. Please observe the following rules when you are using this great member benefit! • Absolutely no food inside the pool area. We encourage you to enjoy the pavilion when you eat meals on the camp property.• Absolutely no glass bottles of any kind when you are inside the pool area. • No Diving• Members may have up to 4 guests at the pool with them and a member or their spouse MUST be present anytime a guest is present. • Do not add or remove furniture from the pool area• Absolutely NO pets under any circumstances are allowed in the pool area or on camp grounds. • If you have been in the lake prior to entering the pool area please change your suit or shower before entering the pool.• If you see any broken equipment or safety issues, please notify us immediately!• In the absence of the lodge president or camp director, camp caretaker Ricky Biggs is in charge of the facility. Please follow any instructions given by him.
There will be no 4thof July party at the FOP camp this year but we will have an FOP family night on July 24that the FOP youth camp located at 904 Glen Ct in Mount Juliet. The member pool will be open and there are activities for those non swimmers as well! Fireworks at nightfall. This is always a popular event, so make sure to be early and bring a chair! Keep in mind that the FOP camp will be underway during this event so please restrict your activities to the member pool, pavilion, and campground area. FOP Family Night
General Membership MeetingMark your calendars! The July General Membership meeting has been rescheduled to July the 8th.
Back the Badge August 2019The Back the Badge Fundraiser has been rescheduled for August 19th. Join us as we work to raise funds for our officers who are sick, injured, or need financial assistance for reasons beyond their control. Donations and silent auction items needed! All donations are tax deductible. Contact James Smallwood at fopsmallwood@gmail.com for more information.
Back the Badge August 2019The Back the Badge Fundraiser has been rescheduled for August 19th. Join us as we work to raise funds for our officers who are sick, injured, or need financial assistance for reasons beyond their control. Donations and silent auction items needed! All donations are tax deductible. Contact James Smallwood at fopsmallwood@gmail.com for more information. 440 WELSHWOOD DR. NASHVILLE TENNESSEE 37211 (615)831-2464 Often times police officers, and their families, are impacted by situations that are beyond their control. Unfortunately, these situations create an environment where officers lose income and are unable to provide for their family's financial well-being. Whether it be line of duty injury, death or other circumstance where the officer and their families need assistance, the FOP does everything it can to support its members in their time of need. This year we are partnering with the Nashville palace to raise funds that will help us carry out that mission. On August 19th, we will be hosting our first ever Back the Badge event. Funds generated from this event will go to directly support our officers. The brave men and women who serve the city of Nashville sacrifice so much to support our community. In our time of crisis, they stand ready to give everything. Now we have the opportunity to give something back. I encourage everyone to come to our back the badge fundraiser at the Nashville Palace from 6-10 P.M. on August 19th. We will have live music, great food, and a silent auction to help us raise these funds. Additionally, if you are willing to help us be that crucial support system, we would ask you to consider making a monetary donation or items for our silent auction so we can ensure that our police officers have the support when they need it the most! Any donations made are tax deductible through the Tennessee Fraternal Order of Police Foundation so I hope you will consider helping us generate funds for this great cause! Thank you, James Smallwood President Andrew Jackson Lodge #5 Fraternal Order of Police
Police Memorial BallAs we celebrate the lives of our fallen heroes and raise funds to support the immediate needs of the families of officers who will make the ultimate sacrifice in the future. Where: Nashville Airport Marriott When: Saturday, September 28th, 2019 Time: 6:00 P.M. - 12:00 A.M. Attire: Black Tie Event Cost: $100.00 Per person A N ight in B lueJoin us for Silent Auction
A message from yourSergeant at ArmsThe IACP National Symposium on Law Enforcement Officer Suicide and Mental Health: Breaking the Silence report was published in 2014 and available at this link: https://www.theiacp.org/sites/default/files/Officer_Suicide_Report.pdf . It offers actionable strategies designed as a road map for police departments seeking to include officer mental wellness as a core element of officer safety and well-being and to mitigate the threat of officer death by suicide. These strategies are designed to prevent the destructive effects of emotional trauma, mental illness, and officer deaths by suicide on a police community; to successfully intervene when officers confront mental health crises, mental illness, or suicidal behavior; and, to provide effective event response protocols when an officer dies by suicide in an agency. Participants at the symposium worked together to develop a national strategy to address officer mental wellness and suicide prevention, built on the following four cornerstones: 1) Culture Change; 2) Early Warning and Prevention Protocols; 3) Training; and 4) Event Response Protocols. The participants identified “Agency Action Items” in each of these four cornerstone categories that offer concrete strategies to create healthier, stronger, and more productive police departments, including: • Recruit leaders who care about the mental wellness of their officers and who unequivocally endorse physical and mental wellness parity as critical to a resilient and healthy police force. • Recruit and hire resilient officers who have demonstrated a commitment to public service and proven stress management skills. • Establish and institutionalize effective early warning and intervention protocols to identify and treat at-risk officers, for example, by launching awareness campaigns on what to look for and who to call when officers may be in a mental health crisis or suffering from clinical anxiety or chronic depression. • Audit existing psychological services and determine whether they are effective in identifying early warning signs of mental wellness issues, including mental illness and suicidal behavior, and in treating at-risk officers. • Invest in training agency-wide on mental health awareness and stress management. • Begin mental wellness training at the academy and continue the training throughout officers’ careers, with a particular emphasis on first-line supervisors. • Include family training to reinforce and invest in those critical family connections. • Establish clear post-event protocols to implement and follow when officers die by suicide. The strategies outlined in this report are designed as a roadmap for police departments seeking to include officer mental wellness as a core element of officer safety and wellbeing and to mitigate the threat of officer death by suicide. These strategies are designed to prevent the destructive effects of emotional trauma, mental illness, and officer deaths by suicide on a police community; to successfully intervene when officers confront mental health crises, mental illness, or suicidal behavior; and, to provide effective event response protocols when an officer dies by suicide in an agency. It is time for a coordinated, national initiative on this all too-critical issue. It is time to integrate mental health and well-being into the mainstream officer safety and wellness continuum.
A message from yourSergeant at ArmsThe Metropolitan Nashville Police Department has an active and staffed Behavioral Health Service Section that also includes Peer Support members. Information about these services can be found at this link: https://www.nashville.gov/Police-Department/Administrative-Services/Behavioral-Health-Services/Police-Advocacy-Support-Services.aspx .Peer Support is vital to successful “Cops helping Cops” in reducing the all too often “eating the gun” suicides by our team members. Formerly, the provision of mental health services to police officers referred for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder or after on-the-job trauma was facilitated mostly by licensed psychologists and social workers who often had minimal experience working with the law enforcement community. Despite the heavy toll of work-related stressors on the morale and psyche of police officers, when under stress we were reluctant to seek professional psychological help as its use often implies weakness, cowardice, and an inability to perform the job effectively. Peer support counseling can be used effectively whenever the target population is uniquely educated or occupationally trained. Peers can offer a unique outreach to groups who demonstrate resistance towards traditional psychotherapy or possess cultural characteristics which would complicate the provision of traditional mental health services, and/or believe it is not understood or misunderstood by the general population or mental health professionals. The peer support component of law enforcement and other emergency services agencies has contributed to an increase in professional mental health referrals and a decrease in on-the-job suicides, sick days, and poor work performance. Having lost a close family member to suicide many years ago, I believe strongly enough in the principles of the Peer Support Program to have participated in the training and joined the program in the MNPD and the Tennessee Army National Guard. In 30+ years of law enforcement including many high risk assignments and 20+ years of active and reserve military service including three Iraq deployments I have never lost a Cop or Soldier under my direct supervision in battle or on duty. However, I have lost more than one by their own hand. The impact to the team members and family members is devastating resulting in a grief that requires support and coping methods to overcome but can seemingly never be defeated and certainly never forgotten. In consideration of this, we should all expand our efforts to be a listening ear to our team members whenever we sense or suspect depression or changes in behavior. When thinking rationally we all know that suicide is a permanent solution to a temporary problem that creates many more potentially permanent problems. If they need something, give something and we won’t regret it. Melvin S. Brown Jr. MNPD Lieutenant (S.W.A.T.) RetiredSergeant – at – Arms F.O.P Andrew Jackson Lodge #5Nashville, Tennessee
CPR ProgramOfficers Pedigo and Davis met Ms. Nistor while on duty and recognized that, as a mother of three, she could use a little assistance from the FOP’s CPR program to purchase some food and basic necessities. Great job in your efforts to build strong relationships within the community where you work officers! Keep up the good work!
CPR ProgramOfficer Jankiewicz responded to a call where a young mother was struggling with postpartum depression. Mom & baby were living with her disabled parents and struggling to make ends meet. Officer Jankiewiczrecognized their need for assistance and contacted a FOP representative for assistance. Lieutenant Dayton Wheeler responded and provided the Williams family with a $100 gift card. The family was very grateful for the assistance.
We want to know! What are some topics YOU would like to see covered in next month’s issue? The Fraternal Order of Police is a member driven organization! Let us know what topics you want to see covered by sending an email to fopconcerns@gmail.com and we will try to include it in a future issue!