KYPCIS Bill Unanimously Passes House Judiciary Committee
A bill devoted to Kentucky Post-Critical Incident Seminars and the mental health and wellness of the commonwealth’s law enforcement passed unanimously today in the House Judiciary Committee.
Bill sponsor, Rep. Ken Fleming (R-Jefferson, Oldham), testified before the committee alongside Department of Criminal Justice Training Commissioner Mark Filburn, DOCJT Deputy Commissioner John McGuire and DOCJT Branch Manager Travis Tennill.
In his testimony, Tennill noted that the non-profit organization, Badge of Life, which tracks law enforcement suicide recently released its 2017 data. One hundred forty officers took their own lives in 2017. In contrast, 139 were killed in the line of duty, Tennill said.
“This is not an outlier, this is not an anomaly,” he said. “This is something that happens year in and year out. More police officers kill themselves than are killed in the line of duty.”
Fleming testified that HB 68 takes a holistic approach toward providing services to officers and their families who have experienced horrific events, while simultaneously shining light on the social stigma of suicide and mental health services. Tennill agreed, noting that Kentucky has experienced the loss of eight officers over the past four years to suicide.
“We are not isolated from this thing,” Tennill said. “It is a tragedy that takes place within our law enforcement community that we have to address and put our efforts and energy behind.”
For more on Kentucky Post-Critical Incident Seminars, please visit www.kypcis.com. For the full text of HB 68, please visit http://www.lrc.ky.gov/record/18RS/HB68.htm.
