Dr. Ruiz Advocates for Local Law Enforcement

In May, my staff and I held a roundtable with law enforcement officers from throughout the district with leadership from local police departments in our communities.

Last month, my staff and I had the pleasure of meeting with local law enforcement officers including leadership from the California Highway Patrol and Banning, Indio, and Palm Springs Police Departments.

At this roundtable, we discussed improving mental health services for those in the line of duty and eliminating the stigma associated with talking about stress and anxiety.

• Breaking the Silence: Rates of depression and PTSD among police officers are more than 4 and 5 times higher than the general public, respectively, and more than 3 times as many officers die by suicide than by on-duty shootings.
• Community Support: From implementing new training to working with counselors, we can build a supportive system of care to meet the needs of our local law enforcement.

Mental Health Funding

I introduced an amendment to the Commerce, Justice and Science appropriations bill for 2020 that doubles our nation's investment in mental health support for police officers to $4 million.

• Critical Funding: This amendment successfully doubles our nation's investment in a federal grant program to improve mental health care, peer mentoring and support, and other mental health programs for local law enforcement agencies.
• Local Inspiration: Our local law enforcement leaders have been very clear: our nation needs to increase its investment in mental health care services. Without their hard work, advocacy, and ideas, this legislation would not have been possible.

On June 25th, H.R. 2055 was passed by the House. This amendment also received the support and endorsement of the National Association of Police Organizations.

Modernizing Benefits for Families of Fallen Officers

On May 21, I spoke on the House floor about my bill, the Heroes Lesley Zerebny and Gilbert Vega First Responders Survivors Support Act of 2019. Click on the image above to watch my full speech.

In memory of Officers Lesley Zerebny and Gil Vega from the Palm Springs Police Department who were shot and killed in the line of duty, I introduced the Heroes Lesley Zerebny and Gilbert Vega First Responders Survivors Support Act of 2019 (H.R. 1210).

• What we hope to achieve: We developed this bill with one central idea in mind – that those who risk their lives for our community deserve the peace of mind to know that if something happened to them, their family would have access to the benefits and support they need.
• How our bill helps: This bipartisan bill would modernize death benefits for grieving families of fallen first responders to account for the increasing cost of living and ensure that they have the resources to pay off the average family debt, raise a child to the age of 18, and pay for school or job training.
• Gaining momentum: Now with a version of this bill in the House with 33 cosponsors and in the Senate (S. 465) with seven cosponsors, we are one step closer to getting first responders and their families the benefits and resources they need.

I'm also demanding answers as to why it's taking so long for grieving families to get their benefits. You can read the letter I sent to the Department of Justice on May 16th here.

It is crucial that we continue to build on this progress. As we work to improve mental health services for our law enforcement officers and ensure their families have the resources they need, we must continue to take decisive action to support our law enforcement officers, our first responders, and their families.

Sincerely,

Raul Ruiz, M.D.
Member of Congress