Date: 03/20/2015
Final
Presentation of Report on Peace Officer Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
HOUSE COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC HEALTH CARE & HUMAN SERVICES
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11:11 AM -- Presentation of Report on Peace Officer Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
Representative Primavera introduced the presentation regarding peace officer post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Dr. John Nicoletti discussed PTSD and how the symptoms of the disease may manifest. He responded to questions from the committee.
11:20 AM
Mr. Stephen Deal shared his personal experience with PTSD and his participation on the Peace Officer Post-traumatic Stress Disorder Task Force (task force), which was created by House Bill 14-1343. He discussed his background as a police officer and discussed the symptoms of anxiety and PTSD that he experienced. He discussed his experience filing for workers' compensation after his diagnosis with PTSD. He responded to questions from the committee.
11:29 AM
Lieutenant Colonel Brenda Leffler, co-chair of the task force, described the activities and composition of the task force. She described the subcommittees formed by the task force and the report of the task force.
11:31 AM
Sergeant Sean Harper, co-chair of the task force, discussed the recommendations of the task force (Attachment A). The first recommendation relates to training at the basic or academy level. Sergeant Harper explained that it is becoming more acceptable for peace officers to discuss stress disorders, and implementing basic awareness training before candidates get into the field would be helpful to new peace officers. The second recommendation concerns making pre-employment psychological evaluations uniform across agencies. The third recommendation relates to peer support, and ensuring training for members of peer support teams. The fourth recommendation concerns the psychological services available to employees of law enforcement agencies and the fifth recommendation relates to response to critical incidents. The sixth recommendation concerns recommendations for the media, and recommendation seven concerns resource development and utilization recommendations, ensuring that resources are readily available to all employees. Finally, Sergent Harper discussed recommendation eight, concerning worker's compensation. He stated that any legislative solutions regarding workers' compensation for PTSD should include all law enforcement personnel. He discussed current statutory language regarding workers' compensation and stated that the language is problematic and should be reviewed and considered for modification to ensure consistency in application. He noted that while some members abstained from supporting the recommendation, no members of the task force voted against recommendation eight. Lieutenant Colonel Leffler responded to questions from the committee regarding recommendation eight. Members of the committee commented on the presentation, and Sergeant Harper discussed peace officers' experiences with traumatic events.
150320 AttachA.pdf