September 2021

Read the POA's tribute to 9/11 (Page 17)

This one had all the elements of a great crime mystery but a tragic ending that played out in 2 cities by the bay, Oakland and San Francisco.

It started with a missing person report of a young man filed by his parents that was passed over to Special Victims Unit where it was then assigned to Sergeant Andrea Creed, Sergeant Michael Horan, and Sergeant Mark Mitchinson. They did an outstanding job interviewing the victim’s friends, re-creating his last days, and taking step by step to find out what really happened.

There’s a metaphor in the mental health community that likens the act of re-exposing yourself to trauma to putting your hand on a hot stove and leaving it there. How do you stop the pain and begin to heal? You take your hand off the stove.

September is National Suicide Prevention Awareness Month, and unlike other “affinity” months dedicated to a topic, this issues truly affects every American in a deeply personal manner. For police officers and our families, the awareness of suicide and mental well-being seems to chase us through our careers and into retirement.