Crisis support for first responders

Brasher said that initially the group wants to provide the First Responder Reboot program to area law enforcement and first responders.

“This is a twelve-week program that is offered free of charge to help work through first responder trauma,” Brasher said. “This is more than just a support group, this is meant to be engaging and provide the participants with tools that will help them deal with PTSD.

“Long-term I would like to eventually be able to branch out and be able to offer additional programming to first responder’s families. Sadly the current environment is shining a light on the fact that the officers’ families are dealing with the stress of having a loved one on the front line of danger but now the added stress of the negative current climate. This is especially difficult for children.”

Community roundtables

“When the entire community has access to fair and balanced information and joins together to address common concerns I believe they will develop solutions that will serve the common good and lead to healthier, more equitable communities,” Brasher said. “That’s the basis of the community roundtables.

“The concept would be to solicit members of the community to actively participate and lead these discussions along with the support from local law enforcement. The role of Building The Blue Bridge would just be to facilitate and to assist in the ‘solve’ phase as we work to implement any of the action items the group identified

Cops in the Community program

The program, Brasher said, “is designed to promote a healthy perception of our law enforcement and facilitates one-on-one mentoring opportunities with at-risk youth. In addition to the Mentor program, we will also work with the area schools to offer our ‘How to Get Pulled Over’ seminar, a program specifically for teenage new drivers 15-18 years old. It will cover: what side of the road you should pull to; what documentation you should have ready to hand to the officer; how you should behave; what you should not do; what the officer is looking for when they approach your car.”

As for the presenters. a member of the BTBB team will help facilitate along with the school resource officer or officer from the local police department, Brasher said.