FRANKFORT – Law enforcement officials who encounter tragic and horrific events while
on the job would get mental health and wellness support under a measure on its way
to the governor after receiving final passage yesterday on a 38-0 vote in the state
Senate.
“On a personal note, from being involved in a fatality accident about two years into
my career, I can tell you firsthand the value of this type of program,” said Sen.
Danny Carroll, R-Paducah, a former police officer who presented the measure, known
as House Bill 68. “Back during those times, there were no supports in place. You
simply went to a physiatrist for an evaluation. He or she either said you were fit
or you were not fit for duty – and that was the end of it.”
He said he that fatal accident almost ended his career, in part, because he didn’t
receive helpful counseling.
“Those things do not go away,” Carroll said of the fatal wreck. “Those are memories
that stay with you your entire life. Sometimes they are very difficult to deal
with.”
At the center of the measure is post-critical incident seminar, or PCIS. It is a
program established by the FBI in the 1980s and first adapted by South Carolina.
Kentucky would be about the 10th state to adopt it.
The initiative would be paid with donations, grants and money from the state
Department of Criminal Justice Training budget. The state budget would contain no
new money for the initiative.
SB 68 also contains an emergency clause, meaning it would become law upon the
governor’s signature. The House passed HB 68 on a 95-0 vote last month.