'Our Folks Are Hurting': Recent Trend Of Children Murdered, Abused Taking Toll On Authorities Charged With Investigating
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- In Philadelphia, a recent trend in crimes against children is taking a toll on those charged with investigating them. After seven murders and two horrific abuse cases, the Philadelphia Police Department is utilizing counselors and pleading for the violence to end.
"Our folks are hurting," Acting Police Commissioner Christine Coulter said.
For Coulter, Friday marked her 32nd year with the department and she says never in that time has she experienced a wave of child tragedy like this.
"Even those folks who have done it for years are impacted more drastically by the death and continued death of young children," Coulter said.
Coulter spoke of the pain after providing an update on a homicide investigating involving yet another toddler. The department's Employee Assistance Program, or EAP, is stepping in more frequently.
"We normally had employee assistance as folks make appointments. They are now dispatching to the scene of the horrific crimes," Coulter said.
Over the phone, CBS3 spoke with Tracy Brooks, the senior counselor for the EAP.
"Sometimes the officers say, 'well I can't understand why I can't stop crying' or 'I can't understand why I can't get the thoughts or the scene out of my head,'" Brooks said.
Brooks says that recently he and his team have been dispatched directly to crime scenes in order to prepare officers for the ways in which they might be affected by what they've seen.
"When I go down, I try to break it down into three or four different categories like some of the emotional reactions, the cognitive reactions, the physical reactions," Brooks said.
Reactions like confusion, guilt, hopelessness and even shame can be common to PTSD or secondary trauma.
"The last thing we want is for someone to experience these reactions, not know and begin to do things that can be self-destructive," Brooks said.
Because you can't always leave it at work, Brooks says the goal is to give first responders the tools to understand and the support needed to cope.
"When it comes to children, a lot of our cops are parents and people who can't help but feel that this is horrible and dealing with their own struggles because it shouldn't happen," Coulter said.
The Employee Assitance Program has been around for 50 years in the Philadelphia Police Department. It started as a more general support program and has evolved to assist with both emotional and physical trauma.