Former Chicago police Officer Joel Gordils plays with David at his home on May 16, 2024, in Chicago. Joel Gordils said he was a step away from killing himself when he heard the click of his dog’s toenails on the floor.
Authorities have sounded the alarm on the importance of officer wellness for years, even making it part of the federal consent decree meant to reform the Chicago Police Department. Last Thursday,wound in his Near West Side home. He joined a grim tally of at least 73 emergency workers and first responders from around Illinois who have died by suicide since 2018, according to the nonprofit organization First Help.
Cops from 33 departments around the state circled the building in small groups, practicing their crisis response techniques. The officer on the floor had just completed three simulations, workshopping how he and his colleagues could best respond to a suicide attempt, a woman with dementia and a person suffering from extreme paranoia.
Sean Smoot said the program got its approval in the last days of Teresa Smoot’s life. He was visiting her in the hospital when he got a call confirming the board could sponsor its first therapy dog in her honor. Trooper the dog hugs Elgin police Officer Maria Nunez, left, as Jennifer Wooldridge, Illinois Law Enforcement Training and Standards Board deputy director of operations holds onto Trooper’s leash during a Crisis Intervention Training at Cicero Community Center on May 16, 2024. Trooper is the Law Enforcement Training and Standards Board’s first therapy dog.
Carrie Steiner, a psychologist who works with Chicago police officers, said it shouldn’t be surprising that officers can react badly to instances of violence or abuse they witness on the job. She said the average person sees about five “critical incidents,” or situations where their or another person’s life is in danger, over the course of their lives.
“You can have all the tactics in the world on how to do something, but if your head isn’t in the game, it doesn’t matter,” she said. Gordils, the former police officer, said he saw plenty of nightmare material in his time with CPD. But he didn’t talk about it all that much.In November 2020, Gordils and his partner attempted to stop a car when the person they were trying to pull over put the car in reverse with Gordils holding onto the side of the window. Gordils was dragged for about a block before being thrown from the the car onto the sidewalk.