Answering the Call: Peer Support Beyond the Emergency

Some of the most important work in public safety happens behind the scenes.

For the Season 2 premiere, Officers Pishock and Conaway return to talk about the Milton Police Department's peer support team, how it started, how it's grown, and why officers are already turning to it when they need help most.

We dive into what it takes to build a program people trust, from specialized training and confidentiality to leadership support and breaking down long-standing stigma. The conversation also tackles the realities of PTSD and stress, along with practical ways first responders can protect their mental health.

This episode offers an honest look at the people behind the badge and why supporting those who serve is critical to keeping our communities safe.

With the community in mind, this podcast explores the stories, people, and initiatives that make our community unique. Each episode offers insights into local government, highlights Milton's history and future developments, and showcases the vibrant arts, culture, and sustainability efforts shaping our city. Join the conversation, celebrate our community, and discover how we're building a better Milton together.

Do you have an idea for an episode or would like to request a specific topic to be covered? Email Christy Weeks, christy.weeks@miltonga.gov

Learn more about the City of Milton at www.miltonga.gov. 

Transcript

Welcome Back For Season Two

SPEAKER_00 0:07

Welcome to Milton in Maine, the official podcast for the City of Milton. We want to bring you closer to the heart of our community through stories that inform, inspire, and connect. Each episode offers a behind-the-scenes look at the people, projects, and priorities shaping Milton, covering everything from local government and future development to arts, culture, sustainability, and public safety. Whether you're a resident, a local business owner, or just curious about our city, this is your front row seat to what makes Milton special. Welcome back to Milton and Maine. We are back for season two, and we are starting with a conversation that matters. My name is Christy Weeks, and I am the communications manager for the City of Milton. Today I'm joined by two familiar faces from the Milton Police Department, Officer Peasock and Officer Conaway. We've talked to Officer Peashock before almost an entire year ago. It was episode 15, The Weight They Carry, First Responders and PTSD. If you haven't listened to it, go back, check it out. It'll give you a little preview as to what led to this conversation. But a lot has changed since then. Today we're going to talk about that growth, the people behind it, and why this work matters more than ever. So I'm going to let you guys kind of introduce yourselves real quick. Peace, you're going to redo your little intro just to remind everybody who you are and what you're doing now.

SPEAKER_02 1:27

Officer Peeshawk, been with Milton uh two years now. About six months ago, got moved to the schools, uh SLO, which I absolutely love. Um I have Birmingham Falls Elementary, uh, Mill Springs, and then sometimes Crab Apple Crossing, and uh great job of.

SPEAKER_00 1:40

Oh, they love you.

SPEAKER_02 1:41

Oh, it's phenomenal.

SPEAKER_00 1:42

I I love getting the the pictures. He's whipping them all into shape, getting them to do challenges and PE. It's uh usually what makes my day when I get those photos.

SPEAKER_01 1:53

Uh I'm sure conway, Patrick. I've been with Milton about a year and a half now, law enforcement for like six years. Main functions patrol. I'm now part of peer support. I'm an FTO field training officer. I'm also a member of our SWAT team.

SPEAKER_00 2:08

Oh, so not busy at all. No, no, no, no. There's not a lot going on there. And you

How Peer Support Became Real

SPEAKER_00 2:15

came from Roswell, correct? Yes, ma'am. Yes. All right, cool. This is gonna be a good conversation, and I've been looking forward to this. I've been looking forward to get back on the mic and start bringing in the details and the things that are really important to the community now and and the cool work that y'all are doing, because I think this is something that people need to understand, and they don't fully have a grasp as to the extent that you guys are building this program. So let's start here. The last time we sat down, you talked about the idea of a peer team and the internal support that was taking shape. So tell me what's different now. What has changed from then to where we are today?

SPEAKER_02 2:58

A lot's changed. Um, like I said, it was just an idea. We had the right people in place, like we knew. We had the right chiefs in place, the right backing. Everyone was there, was just putting it all together. And I can't say enough about the support uh from G DC, everybody. And started um, everyone has to go to that class, that state class. So I started putting it into play. How can we get a team together? Definitely wanted to start talking to certain individuals, um, building the team's trust. It's all trust. That's it. And um, we definitely put together a phenomenal team, and they've all just went recently to the training, we'll just say last two months. And now we're a team of uh I'm a team leader, and I have uh six more with me now. They're unbelievable. There's seven of you. Seven of us now. Yep.

SPEAKER_00 3:39

That's amazing. Because what I would really like to know is that this kind of came from an idea. What's the everyday been? I mean, what's the legwork that had to be done to get to this point?

SPEAKER_02 3:51

It it well, it's definitely me. It's my why in life. There's no question. You know, start this career, you you go certain paths. For me, when I went to that class, that definitely changed my outlook. Before it was a firefighter, firefighter was my on my why. Then I was police officer, this is my why. I want to put bad guys away. Then I went to that class, I'm like, I want to save brothers and sisters' lives. Like it just that's what it clicked. So it is my daily thing, it's whether it's reading books, it's uh talking to the state, uh, we got pretty good connections there, and just doing uh different podcasts and listening and educating myself and create and help create this team with everybody else. Wow.

SPEAKER_00 4:23

Takes a lot of persistence, a lot of love. Um we're gonna bring Officer Conaway into this because we're gonna start about how you built the team. And you weren't just happening into this, you were chosen. And I wanna know, and you can start, Peach or Officer Conaway, either way. However, walk me through this process. How were people identified and selected for this team?

SPEAKER_01 4:48

So for me, it started out. I got an email and it was asking if I was interested in doing something like this. And I ran the email, I saw the flyer for it, and I just talked to myself. I was like, you know, this is probably something that I should be a part of. Just based on past experiences that I've had in law enforcement and in life in general. Um I felt like my experiences allowed me the ability to connect with other people, especially first responders, with things that they are experiencing, are going to experience, or have experienced. I mean, I've I've been involved in a couple critical incidents, and I've been a part of and seen and done some pretty heavy stuff. So just for me, I I love helping people, but I especially love helping my brothers and sisters. Uh, and and this law enforcement as a whole, first responders as a whole, was a very tight-knit community. Yeah. So this allows me an opportunity to really put myself out there and help people that need help.

SPEAKER_00 5:49

You know what I find really cool about this is that you're a really young guy. Like, I'm pretty sure I have kids your age. Like, we're gonna throw that out there. But you found that purpose super early. I mean, you see the value in it, and not saying that other young officers don't, but it's a matter of what you do with what you feel in your heart. You know, that makes a big difference. Now, rumor has it, and I'm gonna throw this in there too, is that you have a little bit of a reputation.

SPEAKER_01 6:21

Wow, I don't know about that.

SPEAKER_00 6:23

I didn't say a bad reputation. I mean a good reputation.

SPEAKER_01 6:26

Oh, I know what you mean.

SPEAKER_00 6:28

And that's that's just simply that you have the ability to connect with the community. And a lot of officers have different skill sets and they bring those to the tables, but to be able to really build a trust with the community that you're serving, I think is outstanding.

SPEAKER_01 6:45

At the end of the day, I would say that just being able to have a conversation with somebody, to connect with them makes this job a thousand times easier. Uh, I remember when I first got started, I had this FTO who's been in it for 30 years, 30 plus years. And he told me one day, at the very beginning of our shift, this was back in my phase one of FTO, so I was brand new out of the academy. Like a baby. Like a baby. Yeah. Twenty-eight years old at that time. But he told me, he said, you will get more flies with honey than you do with vinegar. And when he told me that, and I watched his interactions with people on the street, I realized I was like, this guy really knows what he's talking about. This guy knows how to talk to people. He's always polite, he's always professional. He'll take a knee if he needs to to bring it down to somebody's level. Like, I wish somebody had done that with me when I was younger because I was I was an angry, rebellious teenager, you know, with with all types of my own issues. Just being able to watch him work and taking that experience and learning from it has helped me tremendously. And I I try to teach my trainees when we're on the street, like, hey, if you see these people out in the street, you see these people in these businesses, in these homes, talk to them. Yeah, build relationships because if you do, it's gonna be so beneficial for you in the future. It's gonna help you when you're trying to get information for you know an investigation, but it's also gonna make it a lot easier for you. Like if you go out and you're not in uniform, you run into somebody and they have a positive experience. Or let's let's say like you go out and you're involved in some type of incident and you know you're you're getting your buttkicked. Well, you don't want to be that comp that everyone sees getting his butt kicked and they're like, I don't want to help him. He was kind of rude, or if he just he was a jerk.

SPEAKER_00 8:44

Well, because you're seeing these people, a lot of them, and I don't mean these people in a negative way. I mean people in general, when they call, they're not calling because they're having their best day.

SPEAKER_01 8:53

No, they're having their worst day.

SPEAKER_00 8:55

They're having their worst day, and they they need somebody who can give that empathy and not make them feel like they shouldn't have called. Right. I have done a lot over my lifetime to avoid going to jail. Like I don't, I do, I won't even sit in the back of a car for the fun of it because I have made a purpose. But to get to know you guys, that's the coolest part about my job is yes, I get to work with you guys and and run your social, but I can pop into PD and I can see you guys. And y'all are people that have your own lives, that experience and see and do things that a lot of people could never understand to the to the depths, which is why I I like this podcast and I like chatting with you guys because that brings a lot of um real to the table.

SPEAKER_02 9:50

And I think we definitely break the stigma as you were just talking about, because it's the same thing in the schools. You still have that stigma of the standoff, the standoff officer that's on document. Absolutely. And it still exists, of course. So when you get this uh community now, it just it changes everything.

SPEAKER_00 10:05

Not with our SLOs. Our SLOs are so friendly. Yes, they are. I like them. All great guys that are there for the actually the right reasons, and that's a whole nother episode. So yeah, that was just the rumor that I had heard. It it wasn't a bad one, it was just that you show up and you connect and learn the story of how you learn that because that's that's an amazing thing to learn early in your career.

SPEAKER_01 10:31

I'm still learning. You gotta build that good relationship between the uh department and the community.

SPEAKER_00 10:37

Yeah. And that was one of the first questions I asked when I came into this role. I asked command, what do you guys want people to know and learn about the department? And everybody said that we're human. And I said, There, I can do that. Now, trying to get pictures of y'all, it's

The Training That Changed Everything

SPEAKER_00 10:55

it's hard. There's a handful of you that will smile at the camera. Peach always smiles, but I understand why they don't like the camera too. So I can respect both sides, is a thing, but always appreciate pictures. Okay, I want to get into the training. Um, I want to know about the impact this peered class had on the both of you, because you already introduced it and said it it changed your perspective. But tell me about it. What was it? What was that aha moment, that click moment?

SPEAKER_02 11:27

So for me, I was at a different department at the time, and I realized we were just not doing enough. And I came here, you know, we had we had a team, but we we definitely wanted to push it more, like we said. So for me, it was just giving me ideas. It just it just clicked. I said, I I can do so much more than this. And that's what we've done now. We've really taken off here and we've already been used too. But again, I've already talked to you about what I've done at least. So let's hear from Patrick here. Tell me about class because I I've had it for a couple years now.

SPEAKER_00 11:56

Oh, you knew this was coming up. I did, I did, you're right.

SPEAKER_01 12:00

I really valued the class. I learned a lot from it. I I didn't really have an expectation other than I knew I was gonna go in and I was gonna learn. But it was a heavy class, very heavy, as far as people's experiences, emotions in the class, my own. They asked us if if we were willing to give personal experiences, and I I gave one that I was, and I had to stop in the middle of it because I started getting uh I had an emotional reaction to it. And they told me they were like, you know, take a break, you can take a break. I was like, no, just give me a second, you know. Took a deep breath, drank a little bit of water, and uh continued. But it it was it was such a good class, and it's so needed. And you I didn't think about it until I was in it. I was like, man, this class is heavy and like really need this.

SPEAKER_00 12:51

I didn't realize that you needed that release. Release. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 12:56

In my class, I couldn't believe when they first started talking, I was so embarrassed that we were talking about real things because I had never heard anybody address what we deal with all the time. I was like, are they allowed to say this? Like I could not believe it. It was that shocking. And just like you said, and when you're finally done, that anchor is all to your chest. It just is, it's amazing. Just like he was saying.

SPEAKER_01 13:15

Yeah, it's um it's great. I I felt relief afterward.

SPEAKER_00 13:20

So was it was it the ability to share your story, or was it listening to the others that really kind of said, okay, I'm here for the right reasons.

SPEAKER_01 13:31

Like like Peef over here's been Peef.

SPEAKER_00 13:34

Uh it works, it's handy, it fits.

SPEAKER_01 13:37

Like uh young man Peef over here's been uh it's both. I really, really enjoyed the class. Uh I got to go down to Columbus. It was near my old Falcon Grounds because I grew up in Auburn. Yeah. So it was it was a nice atmosphere, nice environment. The department, it was the Columbus Fire that held the class. Very, very thankful to them. They were amazing. Facility was clean. The class, the the uh peer support guys, the instructors were phenomenal, the speakers were phenomenal, everybody that was in that class that was a student, that they were also phenomenal. Yeah just being able to take that step and and be brave and share their experiences and their stories. So big shout out to them. This is something we need.

SPEAKER_00 14:22

Oh, for sure. You know, I kind of compare it, and I think we've talked in the past. I used to work in addiction treatment, and I myself had never been through a program or anything like that. I was just fortunate to be able to work in the marketing department, but I got to sit in on a lot of stuff and experience. And until you share something, you don't realize you're carrying that. And it's super eye-opening as to a person's ability to compartmentalize and roll on without processing things. Yeah. Do I have a huge, awful sob story? No, I was adopted. I don't remember when I was told, but you start thinking of patterns that I've created over my life, like my children will tell you, I keep everything very close. There are things that affect you in your life that especially for, and I'm gonna say this, our generation, we just dealt with it. There weren't labels for everything, there weren't the resources, you couldn't Google things, you didn't have access to help like you do now. And so you just learn how to deal and you roll on. Now, today we're fortunate that there's programs like this developing, and I want to continue on with getting into the kind of the nitty-gritty of it. You mentioned that you guys had already started kind of working on things. The team is not just hanging out waiting for opportunities. You guys have been involved in real situations. And without sharing anything confidential about what you've seen or anything, share what you can to give a little context to the magnitude of the impact.

SPEAKER_02 16:09

Yeah, this is it's pretty heavy. So um we got utilized pretty quick. We have, again, phenomenal resources. We have uh Summit One Source EAP. So we have we have great helpers. Uh we are not very long into the team where we were definitely um pushed to the limit, which is great, and uh everyone did phenomenal. Um we were definitely I can't I can't I can't give any details, but uh everyone did phenomenal, and um we've definitely been utilized a couple times already. Yeah, it's hard to say, but um I've talked about it on previous podcasts too. It's difficult. When we do a save, say we save you, we can't advertise it because of HIPAA and other things. And we can't get your business out there because you don't want it, right? You could say um, you know, something happened to you, but why did you put my business out there? And we can't, but we have to put every suicide out there. So it's difficult sometimes as a peer support individual that we don't get to celebrate those victories just with our little team. So it gets hard. But uh the team has already been used, absolutely phenomenal, and that's all I can say right now.

SPEAKER_00 17:09

That's fair. I can respect that. I'm very familiar with HIPAA and understand that. And I know as police officers and as a department, not everything that happens is everybody's business. Right.

SPEAKER_03 17:18

Right.

SPEAKER_00 17:19

And people deserve the respect and the confidentiality that goes along with how you guys handle yourselves. So for that, you can you should be very proud of how you handle things. So I'm gonna shift out of that. The job comes with moments that really stay with you. And that's not only your peer support group, but that's every day. But if we can kind of focus in, speak to how you all handle the weight of those, if you can, without the details, without that. But there are some heavy, heavy things that y'all see, hear, and

Decompression Without Self-Medicating

SPEAKER_00 17:55

experience.

SPEAKER_01 17:57

I mean, I'll tell you the screen though. I go to therapy. Yeah. I go to therapy probably once every two weeks. I journal. What else do I do? I love being outside, outdoors. I go hiking, I like cooking. As a matter of fact, I was just talking to F shir on the way up here.

SPEAKER_00 18:14

You're welcome for that.

SPEAKER_01 18:16

Yeah. Um, I like to make mead, so I do that as a hobby.

SPEAKER_00 18:21

Wait, wait, wait, what?

SPEAKER_01 18:22

Mead. Mead honey wine. Yeah. Fermented honey. Yes. Delicless.

SPEAKER_00 18:27

Is that a southern thing?

SPEAKER_01 18:28

No, it's the oldest alcoholic beverage.

SPEAKER_00 18:32

How do I not know about that?

SPEAKER_01 18:33

Yeah. Can you judge me for being Alabama? Uh no.

SPEAKER_00 18:37

Colorado girls, sorry, little small cow town. No, no, no. We need a video.

SPEAKER_01 18:42

Yeah. Yeah. Um, I I I do a lot of stuff to uh just help me decompress. I love working out. I try to stay fit and athletic. Working out really helps me. Weightlifting, just going on a run, being physically fit, being active, staying active. Movement is lubricant. I heard that one recently. That's motion is lotion. That one.

SPEAKER_02 19:05

Ew. It's from a Delta Force operator, actually. So it's okay.

SPEAKER_00 19:11

Well, they say a lot of crazy things.

SPEAKER_01 19:13

They do. I like them. And movies. I love movies. I love drawing, music. I I was a dancer when I was younger, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 19:21

No way.

SPEAKER_01 19:22

Yes. Yes. I was uh I did break dancing. Oh boy.

SPEAKER_00 19:26

Oh, oh, uh oh.

SPEAKER_02 19:28

Oh get my cordboard. Bring it out of here.

SPEAKER_01 19:30

Let's go. We're gonna duct tape it to the floor.

SPEAKER_00 19:32

We are. I bet I have some duct tape so I can find it. I know I know people around here.

SPEAKER_01 19:36

Throwing some 80s beats.

SPEAKER_00 19:38

You weren't even here in the 80s. Don't bring back the 80s. They need to stay where they are. No. They are not something you bring back into have the ability to enjoy athletics and all these other art forms and things like that. That's pretty cool. I dig it. Yeah. But it and you're also able to identify what helps you here.

SPEAKER_02 20:05

May ask a question, if I can. Did they teach you decompression in there or was this stuff you're already doing?

SPEAKER_01 20:10

Um so this was stuff I was already doing. Okay. But they they do talk about decompression and finding healthy avenues, specifically healthy avenues. Because you don't want to get lost in the sauce with like coming home from work and just drinking until you black out to help you sleep. Yep. Or you don't want to self-medicate. Right.

SPEAKER_03 20:28

Right.

SPEAKER_01 20:29

And there's there's other stuff that you you don't want to you don't want to use it as a means to decompress alcohol, drugs. They they talk about like it's okay to be athletic and work out. Uh if you want to take up like jujitsu boxing, that's fine, but that doesn't need to be your sole thing because now you're using like a form of violence, I guess.

SPEAKER_00 20:54

Correct.

SPEAKER_01 20:55

You know, and that becomes your end-all be-all.

SPEAKER_00 20:58

And it's equally as addictive.

SPEAKER_01 21:00

Yes.

SPEAKER_00 21:01

You know, working in addiction, you learn that, and I've had people that I worked with and traded one for the other. They just traded one for another and just went so extreme. Like one guy, he's awesome. He's a great dude, and he runs sober houses now. He has several, but he's an ultra marathoner. The dude'll run 150 miles in the mountains, like overnight. And I it's just absolutely amazing what he's been able to do without his old habits. It's awesome. I just, it's beyond my and I used to love kickboxing until, you know. Oh yeah. It's so fun. The ability to to find that and find what works. What works for you, Pish?

SPEAKER_02 21:47

Similar, very similar. Like you said, uh, definitely exercise. That was my number one uh meditation, big on limb health meditation. Uh do that a lot. Journalizing, reading, I read a ton. Um, and really bad, ice bad. Cold shower. Resets the nervous system. Definitely something that I do. It's difficult.

SPEAKER_00 22:05

Sounds terrible.

SPEAKER_02 22:06

It is terrible, but it it is an absolute immediate reset of the whole system, cardiovascular system. But um that's in uh desperate times.

SPEAKER_00 22:13

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 22:14

Yeah. Yep.

SPEAKER_00 22:15

I I know it's a very popular thing. I can't seem I I despise being cold. If you've been around here in the wintertime, you've heard me whine about how cold it is and how nobody told me that Georgia got this cold. Aren't you from Colorado? There's a reason I moved from Colorado. So done with the cold weather. Beautiful there. Love Colorado for a lot of different reasons, but not the weather.

SPEAKER_03 22:39

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 22:41

So I have other questions. I have other questions. This isn't about me. We know what you guys are doing. So you guys go out. Actually, when you go out, are you meeting with these individuals? Is it a group thing? Is it a one-on-one thing? I mean, what's the structure?

SPEAKER_02 23:04

Sure. So

Group Support And Team Structure

SPEAKER_02 23:05

we just started our training. So um you have to do a couple sessions here, but we did uh two sessions already. Started teaching like a group therapy too, which is um it's pretty awesome. I think you guys did in your class, kind of what we did. It's powerful, very powerful stuff. And again, you don't have to talk. It's um the more people you get, the better. Um, say if we have a group of six and yeah, uh somebody can share a story.

SPEAKER_00 23:24

And it's not just limited to Milton.

SPEAKER_02 23:26

Oh, it is. This is peer team only. This is peer training, peer only. Correct. Okay. And this is just getting our team trained and get up to speed from basically modern techniques, what we're using right now. And you hear so many good stories from every teammate that once you start going out on the state calls or or other calls for um with other jurisdictions here, you're just one up. You understand now better because you heard it from Patrick what he's gone through too. And so you hear from a Johns Creek guy or something like that. So you're just ahead of the game. And that just definitely sets you up. Little group therapy, and that's just your training right there.

SPEAKER_00 23:58

Yeah. Yeah. Let's talk about why this team. Let's get a little bit into that because we've only skimmed over it a little bit. And we talked about how this stuff stays with you, and we've talked about how you guys handle those, you know, decompressing techniques afterwards. But how important is it for an officer to have someone who understands the weight of the situation and to have someone to talk to without judgment? Because people are judgy. It's just what it is, and you guys have to come into this situation fully knowing and understanding. And I'm wondering if maybe not having this resource prior to is what kept everybody just closed up. Can't talk about it, departments don't talk about it, officers don't talk about it, and now that mentality is shifting. So tell us how important this is.

SPEAKER_02 24:56

I mean, it's gargantuous. Do you want to start? I mean, it's still real. The stigma is still very real. And I I can't go into details, but we're gonna say, I'm gonna say four months ago we had a suicide, not here on a different place, and um still hit the wall. Department doesn't want to hear, we got this, we don't want any help. And it's still very real. So that stigma is today. But I'll let Patrick elaborate more on that.

SPEAKER_01 25:18

I think we also run into a lot of the goal of uh I'll say old mentality, but that's what it is. Yeah. The uh we don't talk about it and just keep it moving, keep it pushing, focus on the day, get done with it, and don't ever talk about it again. Switch starting up for. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 25:34

That's just mind-boggling to me.

SPEAKER_02 25:37

How many suicides do you need before you wake up? That's the bottom line. At what point your your funeral now is a joke because you haven't done anything and you're not doing anything now to help it as well. So that's where we get real to people, but they still don't if it's another department, you cannot get in there to it is what it is.

SPEAKER_01 25:54

It is I think it's also important to touch on that if somebody has a suicide in their department. Yes, that one officer or firefighter, first responder, or EMT, whomever, they've now done the act. But now it's going to send ripples throughout that community and it's going to affect other people deeply. Could even cause other first responders to do the same.

SPEAKER_03 26:20

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 26:21

Because it's just not being addressed, they're not being helped. It's not that they don't want to seek help. Like some of the the younger people, this gen this in the young generation, they are all about it.

SPEAKER_00 26:31

But it's the older generation, and I don't want to even classify that as a whole, but it ties into what I said a little while ago, is that we just had to suck it up and roll on. There's no explanation for it. There's no label, there's no out for it, just roll on. And that still exists today. Throwing it back to again addiction treatment days, and I was in Colorado, Colorado had some pretty major mass shootings. And I mean, some of them were I I wasn't even living there during one of them, and that was uh Columbine, of course. But listening to the stories from the one of the guys that survived it. And they just loaded him up. He came out of that school and they just loaded him up, and then he spent years in addiction, got sober, tried to do something, and ended up succumbing to everything. He understood the track he was on, and it still got him. You know, you they and they're the officers involved and things like that, the things that they saw. And they go to treatment and then they come out and then they're back in treatment because they're

Stigma, Suicide Ripples, And Getting Help

SPEAKER_00 27:55

still being told it's part of the job. You signed up for it. PTSD isn't a thing for you. For this guy over here who's not in law enforcement, yes, he can have it, but you can't.

SPEAKER_03 28:07

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 28:08

I said I always say how heavy you want to go, but um people don't understand suicide, like they have that stigma still, too. But you'll see most people who survive it, they get very close, they say, So this is how it happened. They had no thoughts, they had no nothing. Either the bottle got them or something. And um, I definitely can understand them, I can relate to them now, because I've seen so many. But the guy who survives or the girl who survived said, somehow I was in the bathroom, I had the gun, I said, This is how it happened. Never had a thought process in their life. It's three in the morning, and somehow I ended up here and I never had suicidal thoughts, but now I'm about to do it. And they make a call, thank God, and get saved. But it's very real and it's that quick, just like that, too. Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 28:53

I don't have words for to follow that up because I don't, it doesn't need the extra words from me.

SPEAKER_02 28:59

My words to the teammates are, and I I try to get it through because a lot of police officers don't understand, but the teammates get it, like when they say, I just don't understand how somebody kills them. They got four beautiful kids. It has nothing to do with it. It has nothing to do with it. And to be on this team, and they all have it, they understand that mentality now has nothing to do with your beautiful wife, your four kids. It's it's a pain that they can't deal with anymore, and they really think they're a burden. You just have to un you have to open up and you gotta get dark because you gotta go to the darkness, and uh, then you've comprehend what they're going through to get back to the light. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 29:30

And then here's the other part of this whole situation is that y'all are the peer support group. And I wonder about therapists who go through this, they hear all this and it sits on them. So this stuff sits on y'all. Yep. And then you're processing and handling something that isn't yours from the get-go, but you still have it.

SPEAKER_01 29:56

Oh, yeah. So you you take on what's the word I can't remember the word right now. Trauma bonding. There is trauma bonding that occurs, but there's also taking on other people's trauma, which invites trauma into your life.

SPEAKER_03 30:08

Right.

SPEAKER_01 30:09

And sometimes I think about therapists compassion fatigue. Right. Not only that, but they can wick in past therapists have therapists. Yep. They do. Yeah, because they take on so much. Yep. And it's the same for us. It's like if yes, we start getting exposed to more and more and more, eventually we're gonna have to unload too.

SPEAKER_03 30:27

Yep.

SPEAKER_01 30:27

And to say that's the nature of the job. You know, you signed up for this. Yes, I did sign up for it. You're absolutely right, I did. But I also I feel like I'm emotionally intelligent enough to know that at some point I'm gonna have to unload all this, but in a healthy way.

SPEAKER_02 30:44

Right. Wow. Wise beyond disease.

SPEAKER_00 30:48

So is there anything else y'all want to add into this, mix, as we start to wrap things up? Because I think we covered a lot, but if there's anything else you want people to know about this program, our services are 247-365. So, how would somebody find y'all? How do they get a hold of the peer support group?

SPEAKER_01 31:10

Well, I meant I meant policing, but also peer supporter.

SPEAKER_00 31:13

Well, everybody knows that you're available 24-7 or 345.

SPEAKER_01 31:18

No, you just it's it's really simple. You just reach out. All you have to do is just tell somebody. That might be hard for some people, but again, yeah, just tell us. We're there.

SPEAKER_02 31:30

We're building the you know, you're building the trust. We're definitely getting it. That's what it takes. It takes one person to ruin it, but it takes us a long time to get it going. And we're getting it now. We have a shift brief where I think it's running nonstop too, so people can see it on every single day.

SPEAKER_00 31:42

So you guys are scattered on different shifts.

SPEAKER_02 31:45

Yeah. Yeah, we really have a good um we got males, we got females, we got detectives, we have everybody SWAT. So we've got firefighters. So we do not. So it's it's funny you said that.

How To Reach The Team

SPEAKER_02 31:55

No. We do have we do there's two firefighters who finally went to the class. So they can do it now, but we're still separate. So that is it's kind of a weird thing. Yeah, it's yeah, you're talking about now. So so it's still fire police separate, that maybe eventually down the road it'll be a public safety team.

SPEAKER_00 32:11

But the fact of the matter is is that you've got somebody over there that's in the ground floor trying to learn about it.

SPEAKER_01 32:20

Yes, we do. And even even if we're not on duty. I I told P Shearers that even if I'm not at work, call me. Yeah.

unknown 32:27

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 32:28

Call. I'm there. But I mean, we're seven now and the department's small enough that everyone pretty much knows somebody on the team now. So it's it's perfect. It's great. We're definitely set up.

SPEAKER_00 32:38

I love that. I think it's great. I think it's great. And you guys should. I mean, this is an accomplishment that a lot of departments probably can't see immediately. But hopefully down the line, you know, it will become more of a common practice because I think that's how things start to develop and and grow in the first place, right? It's moving that way. It is. Yeah. It is. Because I mean, we could go back 50 years into policing and looking at the way departments were structured back then compared to the things that we have now, and it's off the chain.

SPEAKER_02 33:12

Not even, not even that long. And I said some departments are so behind. We're we're so far advanced in front of them. And it takes when you go on a call out and you see some of these other places, you're like, wow, we're we're doing pretty well here. We really are.

SPEAKER_00 33:25

Anything else, Conway?

SPEAKER_02 33:27

That's it for me.

SPEAKER_00 33:27

No digs on my age, you got nothing else for me?

SPEAKER_01 33:30

No, I would never go dog.

SPEAKER_00 33:36

I'm not barking at you. I'm just saying. So, y'all, I appreciate you taking the time today to come in and talk about this. This is a perfect way to reintroduce Milton and Maine, get season two going. I'm gonna hope that we've got other things to follow up with over the course of the next year. Touch base, see what's developed, see what's growing, see what's happened. And if you ever knew anything, you know y'all are welcome here. If there's a message you want to work on, you know, I'm communications. That's what I do.

SPEAKER_02 34:08

Thanks for having us. Absolutely. Thank you.

SPEAKER_00 34:11

You bet. So, everybody who's listening, appreciate you stopping by, taking a listen. It's important for you to know that this work matters, not just for the officers, but for the entire community, because when you take care of your people, they're better able to take care of everyone else. So, again, thank you both for coming and being willing to talk about it. And everyone listening, this is just one part of what goes into public safety. Just a just a single piece of it. There's a lot you don't see, and a lot of people making sure others are okay, even when things are hard. So, thanks again for joining us, and we'll see you next time on Milton and Maine.