About once a week Mayor Bieter sends out an E-Memo
If you are interested in getting these in your inbox go HERE to subscribe.
Here is this weeks memo as an example.
Wednesday, August 24, 2011
The Mayor’s eMemo
Dear WBNA:Boise has always been a community that stands behind our military and their families — through the “Celebration of Thanks” event at the 2005 Humanitarian Bowl; through the “Our Troops, Our Families” program this year; and through the countless efforts and gestures of support from local businesses and individuals to our veterans every day.
For some of our returning troops, the transition home can be difficult, even traumatic. When internal turmoil leads to external conflict, police officers may be called to intervene — and the result can be difficult and dangerous.
That’s the challenge that led to Veterans Intercept, a new training program developed by the Boise Police Department. Police Chief Mike Masterson unveiled the program earlier this month at Gowen Field before an audience of more than 100 community leaders and veterans activists.
Veterans Intercept is designed to help police emergency responders to recognize if the individual involved is a veteran in crisis and, if possible, to use training to calm the situation and assist the veteran with finding critical support services.
A key contributor to the development of Veterans Intercept was Sgt. George Nickel, a decorated Iraqi war veteran who has struggled with post-traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injury. Sgt. Nickel had a near-deadly encounter involving firearms with Boise police in 2009 but is now attending Boise State University, earning a degree in social work, and is active in the Idaho Veterans Networkcounseling other veterans.
The Boise Police Department are providing the Veterans Intercept training video toBoise area members of NAMI, the National Alliance on Mental Illness. NAMI plans to market and distribute the video to police agencies nationwide.
I want to thank Sgt. Nickel for his service to our country and our community, and Chief Masterson and the Boise Police Department for their vision and leadership in addressing this important issue.
Until next time …
