Once can only imagine how difficult it must have been for the police officers that responded to the tragedy that happened at an elementary school in Newtown, Connecticut. Some are so affected by what they saw that they cannot work. Their insurance company is not covering the care they require.
By now, you have undoubtedly heard about the tragedy that happened at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut. A gunman (whose name we have all heard many times over), shot and killed 26 people at the school. Twenty of them were young children.
The entire nation was shocked by, and is grieving, this tragedy. It isn’t the kind of news story that you can hear and then go on about your day as usual. We are all affected by this. I’ve heard it said that parents, especially those with small children, are very deeply disturbed by what happened (even if they don’t live anywhere near where it occurred).
The police who had to walk into that school and assess what happened that day had an incredibly difficult job to do. An article in Mercury News points out that some of the police officers who responded to the school shooting “are so traumatized they haven’t been working”. Instead, they are using their sick time. Soon, they will be at risk of going without a paycheck.
Unfortunately, the insurance company that covers these officers, the Connecticut Interlocal Risk Management Agency, isn’t providing much help. Eric Brown is an attorney for Council 15 of the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees. It is the union for the police officers. He had this to say:
The insurer for the town has taken a position that these officers are entitled only to what the statute allows. Unfortunately for these officers, the statue doesn’t allow any benefits.
If I am understanding things correctly, the statues on workers’ compensation currently includes provisions to help officers who suffer mental impairment as the result of using deadly force, or as the result of being subjected to deadly force. It doesn’t provide help for officers who witness crime scenes with mass casualties and who are affected by what they saw.
Lt. George Sinko is the spokesman for the Newtown Police. He told the Mercury News that the officers are “generally holding up well”. He had this to say:
A couple of them are taking it harder than some of the others. The things that the officers had to experience underscores the need to support them in every way possible.
Image by kerina on Flickr