By TOMMY REZAC
St. Joseph Post
The St. Joseph Police Department is in mourning. Captain Jeff Wilson acknowledges the painful and sudden loss of officer Kyle Graham, who took his own life this past Thursday. He was just 40 years old.
"This is an extremely tough time for our department and tenfold for his family."
In light of Graham’s death, Wilson is sharing with the public the importance of officer wellness. Starting by defining the word wellness itself.
"Wellness is something we've focused on for quite a long time," he said. "We term it as mental fitness, physical fitness and spiritual fitness."
Wilson has been an officer for 32 years. He says when he first started, mental health was something that just wasn’t talked about in law enforcement. It was all about "acting tough" or "bulletproof."
Today, Wilson has faith in St. Joseph Police leadership and other agencies' ability to properly address the topic.
"Our law enforcement leaders have gotten much better at recognizing the importance of officer wellness," he pointed out. "The ability for an officer to do this job. Which, by the way, is considered to be the most physically and mentally dangerous and traumatizing profession you could be involved in."
After Graham’s death, Wilson says the best way to honor their fallen officer and brother is to address officer wellness head on.
While the dialogue is opening up and the stigma is changing, Wilson points out there's work to be done with an an average of 184 law enforcement suicides in the United States per year.
"I know that's what Kyle would've wanted," Wilson said. "For us to figure out what we can do for his fellow officers on this department and across the country. And that's our goal here."
Wilson says St. Joseph Police has resources in place for officers during times of trauma, or after a traumatic event. One is a peer support group.
"Our peer support group made up of 10 trained officers, and it's a group of folks our officers can go and talk to," Wilson said. "They can talk to people, officers who understand where they're coming from. They share the same turf, so to speak."
The Family Guidance Center of St. Joseph also provides liaisons to officers - during difficult times and also on a day-to-day basis as needed.
Wilson commends chief Paul Luster, who Wilson says has prioritized the mental health of officers on the force.
"His greatest concern is the wellbeing of our officers," Wilson said of Luster. "Their mental state and where they're at. That's because he has a mission and a vision for our department and what he wants our officers to do, and we have to be okay to go out there and help other people be okay."
As for Graham's memory, Wilson says the entire force will remember him for his upbeat attitude and diligent work.
"It's a terrible loss to this department," Wilson reiterated. "Officer Graham wore this badge, which represents this noble profession, with a public servant mindset and heart. A public servant heart. Each and everyday, he went out to do his job."
Funeral services for Graham will be held this coming Monday at Word of Life Church in St. Joseph. Visitation will be from 3-5 p.m. on Sunday at Meierhoffer Funeral Home.
Nodaway Valley Bank also set up the Kyle Graham Memorial Fund. People can donate to that by scanning the Venmo code in the picture below.
You can follow Tommy on Twitter @TommyKFEQ and St. Joseph Post @StJosephPost.