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Nassau Charitable Foundation Ret. Det. John Conley The Nassau Detective’s Charitable Foundation was there in force to celebrate Tim Jaccard’s 4,000th save of a baby at his annual “Cigar Night” at MulCahy’s last month! Please think about this, Tim and his AMT Children of Hope Foundation are responsible for saving 4,000 newborn babies! I’ve met many of the adoptive parents of these children at Children of Hope Foundation events and they could not be more appreciative. The Detective’s Foundation generously supports Tim and his foundation. Is there a better way to show our support than saving babies? The “Cigar Night” was a tremendous success for Tim and all attendees. God Bless Tim and his volunteers! Next up for the Nassau Detective’s Charitable Foundation is our annual golf tournament in Woodbury. By the time you are reading this the golf tournament will have passed but judging from past experience, it will have been an extremely well-run event and great time for all players. On June 12th Joe Lore and the Nassau Police Anglers will be holding their annual Fluke Tournament. The prize for the biggest Fluke is $1,000.00! If you don’t own a boat, join me on the Captree 3 party boat heading out of Captree. The Nassau Police Anglers generously donate part of the proceeds to our Charitable Foundation and the event is always a hit! As a final note, this will be my last event as Chairman of the Nassau Detective’s Charitable Foundation. After 7 years I will be riding off into the sunset. I would like to thank everyone involved in the many fundraisers we have conducted and all those who attended. I would like to especially thank my Board, Ed O’Connor, Chief Jay Caputo and Charlie Costello, the DAI Board and its members, Lois Riccobono Van Allen Associates), Rich Tschernia, Commissioner Ryder, Kevin Black (SOA), James McDermott (PBA), James Farrentino (and Jen from Craig James Financial), Lou, Ollie and Jason (Shelter Rock Investments), Fusco, Brandenstein, & Rada, Jen our Office Manager, John Murray (MulCahy’s), Nick Ewing (FOP Lodge 757), Ron Marciano (Burnside Collision) and Frank Allaire (Association of Former Detectives). I’m sure I forgot some of our big supporters and I apologize but perhaps that is why I am moving on. NCPD Wellness Committee Frank Bokrosh Jr. First and foremost I wanted to take the time to thank not only the PBA but the SOA and DAI for accepting this article into their quarterly Newsletters. Recently the department has recognized the wellness committee as an official committee. The committee’s goals are to provide awareness and education to our department members on not only mental health but physical and spiritual health as well. Every month, members from different unions with different titles check their ranks in at the door for this meeting in order to better serve and help our members. There are of course a vast array of effects which come from doing this type of work, we see the worst in people on a daily basis and we are expected to put our personal problems aside in order to serve the community. As we all know police officers are not robots and are just as human as the people who are running towards us for help. Policing in 2019 has become an even bigger challenge with how scrutinized our police officers are on a daily basis. Whether it’s mainstream media, social media, or cell phone cameras, split second decisions are being slowed down and over analyzed in order to fit a certain narrative or assumption. Factors like this only add to the enormous stress being placed on anyone in the first responder field. If you add in the long existing stigma that a police officer is supposed to bury that stress and deal with it so he or she can continue to do the job, you have a very troubling recipe. Cumulative stress by dealing with repeated traumatic events on the street or in life can quickly deteriorate ones mental health and job performance. It is imperative that we as police officers erase the stigma that a cop isn’t “tough” if he or she asks for help. It is always ok not to be ok! In my opinion, if any police officer can safely say that they are the same person they were when they raised their hand to be sworn into this field, they are lying to themselves. It is a near impossibility for you or your lifestyle to be unaffected by the nature of this job. Police officers are quick to tell family and friends about how dangerous this job is, and they are right. We wear bullet proof vests to work, we go on unpredictable and dangerous calls every day. We are expected to handle a gun call with the same temperament as a disabled motorist. The truth is, the dangers to mental health outweigh those of the physical. Police officers are more likely to take their own life than to lose their life in the line of duty. It’s an eye opening idea and its one we should be paying attention to. The committee is looking forward to educating and promoting ideas to help all department members with how to better themselves mentally, spiritually and physically. Look out for us on Family Day at headquarters May 18, 2019. We plan to have a tent there to speak to members about all of the available benefits and services our department offers, from family counseling through the Employee Assistance office, to the Peer Support process which helps cops on the street. We look forward to seeing you on Family Day and hearing your suggestions, comments and opinions at NCPDWELLNESS@gmail.com. Until then, take care of yourselves and others. 27