http://www.wisn.com/news/28705839/detail.html#ixzz1UgE3F4M9
MILWAUKEE — Milwaukee police are about to launch a brand-new program to confront an alcohol problem on the force.
The chief explains his reasons for calling attention to the issue and reporter Nick Bohr talks to an officer currently suspended for driving drunk.
Milwaukee Police Chief Ed Flynn said he came to the realization sometime last year that his department needed a culture shock.
“If the subculture of policing is bedeviled by alcohol abuse, think about it when that subculture is in Wisconsin,” Flynn said.
Flynn said he’s come to realize in his three years here, with more than 15 officers arrested for drunken driving off-duty, three more committing suicide under the influence of alcohol, and others involved in alcohol-fueled domestic incidents, that he needed to do something differently.
“I’ve got people who work for me who are willing to run into burning buildings and confront armed suspects, but find it hard to tell a colleague, ‘Give me the keys, stop drinking,'” Flynn said.
Flynn’s program will train officers to better recognize the causes of alcohol abuse and encourage them to intervene with each other when they see a problem.
A Milwaukee officer who was arrested last year in Fond du Lac County for drunken driving will be a part of the solution.
“It’s kind of like a surreal experience. It’s been eight months now, and I still, when I look back, I can’t believe that I’m that guy, and I made that choice,” Milwaukee police Sgt. John Corbett said.
Corbett is serving a 60-day suspension, after 30 days in jail, for his drunken driving during deer hunting season last year.
He’s seen the stresses of the job sneak up on many of his police friends and lead to alcohol abuse, but said he didn’t recognize it in himself until his arrest.
“A common thinking, ‘Let’s head out and have a couple drinks, or I’ll meet you, and we’ll try to unwind that way.’ Well, after so many years of adding up and adding up, sometimes it’s hard to differentiate when enough is enough and a good time turns into a possibly fatal time,” Corbett said.
Corbett is grateful no one was hurt and wants to share his experiences with other officers, hoping it will sink in, and urging others to speak up when they see it in a fellow officer.
“It’s that peer, that partner, that friend, that can save somebody’s job, and they can save somebody’s life by intervening. We have to look out for each other,” Flynn said.
The enhanced training for current officers starts next week. It will be expanded to be a greater part of the training for recruits and even the orientation for police aides.
Flynn told12 News the discipline for officers has also been beefed up. He said in the past, first-time drunken driving would get a suspension of a week or less. Now, the standard is 30 to 60 days.
