Scores of Minneapolis officers seek disability for PTSD in wake of protests

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

More than 150 Minneapolis police officers are seeking disability benefits, claiming they are suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder following the protests that have rocked the city and the nation in the wake of George Floyd's killing.

In a statement Friday, attorney Ron Meuser, whose law firm is representing the officers, said that many are at "their breaking point."

"In the last six weeks, over 150 police officers have started the process of filing physical and mental disability claims, the majority of which encompass officers suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). This is an astronomical number of people given there are approximately 850 officers within the Minneapolis Police Department," he said.

"I'm seeing PTSD symptoms of officers with highly diminished capacity to live and socialize, extraordinary rates of divorce, and alcohol dependency - just to cope. It is an emotional crisis that cannot and should not continue."

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/scores-of-minneapolis-officers-seek-disability-for-ptsd-in-wake-of-protests/ar-BB16AZAE?li=BBnb7Kz&ocid=DELLDHP

Poor snowflakes.

[ret5hd]

1. Man, think of the level of PTSD they'd have if...

99.9 percent of the time one of them was killed, the prosecutors refused to even try the case!!!

[tblue37]

2. What about the peaceful protesters suffering from PTSD after being violently assaulted

by out of control, raging police?

[msongs]

3. one smells BS - lock em up til they are better nt

[Buckeye_Democrat]

4. Did they have bullets passing by their heads like soldiers?

They don't seem stable enough to do the job.

[hedda_foil]

5. Like hell they have PTSD.

[The Magistrate]

6. Fire These Grifting Malingerers, Sir

Clear this crap out of the department.

[Midnightwalk]

7. There is a simple treatment

It is very stressful to go from being the object of blind hero worship to being told you are acting criminally, abusing people and violating human rights.

Just a few months ago they were rarely challenged. Everyone they interacted with, outside victims, thanked them and honored them as first responders. Maybe their were a few bad apples but surely the bunch wasn’t spoiled.

Now some are actually getting charged or fired outright. More people are calling out their crimes and abuses. Even filing false reports isn’t completely safe.

I’m not sure I’d call it a sea change yet, but it’s getting there.

I imagine it is hard to face that you might be a bad person. That shouldn’t qualify you for disability.

You want to feel better? Clean your own house. Don’t tolerate abuse, assaults, murder, falsifying evidence or filing false reports. Trust me you’ll feel a lot better.

For the ones who do those things, charge them or fire them.

[Phoenix61]

8. "At their breaking point" is not one of the

criteria for a PTSD diagnosis. Whiny little snowflakes.

[Lulu KC]

9. Trauma is part of this for everyone

They are part of the cycle of trauma in police culture, whether they themselves have engaged in violence or not. One person in the cycle getting help helps everyone. Even acknowledging this flies in the face of the macho mystique in policing (and in serving in the military, even in journalists). Smart police departments get training in trauma--for themselves and to stop inflicting it on others. If there were pre-policing events that led to overreaction and violence, those will come out in treatment.

BUT there's a difference between getting treatment and getting disability benefits. That does sound cynical. I'm going to watch this.

https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/2158244018794794