An undisclosed number of Buffalo police officer suicides in recent years has prompted city officials to create a new position in the department aimed at bolstering mental health and wellness within the ranks.
Mayor Byron W. Brown and Police Commissioner Joseph A. Gramaglia on Friday announced that Officer Matt Cross, a five-year member of the force, has been appointed as full-time coordinator of the department’s otherwise all-volunteer peer team that reaches out to officers in emotional crisis.
“They do work that is extremely challenging, and the everyday job of a Buffalo police officer is very difficult and very dangerous,” Brown said at a news conference in the police department’s Court Street headquarters.
“We have experienced a situation where over the years there have been some officer suicides,” Brown added. “For family sensitivity, we are not going to put a number on it, but it is a major concern that is very heartfelt by all of us.”
All of the volunteers on the peer team are trained in what is called critical incident debriefing, Gramaglia said.
“If there is a critical incident, a specific trauma, something that occurs, they work at an offsite location at a predetermined time after the incident occurs. They have reasons for that. They bring them in in a closed session and these peer team members are trained to help them work through, discuss what the issue was, what the trauma was that they experienced and try to help them through that, and then they get them any additional resources that they need and direct them where they need to go beyond that,” Gramaglia said.
Cross’ job will focus on coordinating with police officers and getting them the resources they need to maintain mental health and wellness, he added.
“We know that when our officers are healthy and well they are better to themselves, first and foremost, they’re better to their families and they are better out on the street working and serving the community,” Gramaglia…
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