MORE HELP FOR COPS WHO DRINK.

Byline: BETH BARRETT

Staff Writer

Seventeen years ago, as his family was falling apart, LAPD Detective Glenn McConnell emerged from denial and entered treatment for alcoholism.

Since then, McConnell has counseled hundreds of officers about a disease that has ravaged those trying to cope with the stress of police work.

The Los Angeles Police Department has about 200 peer counselors available to provide support for a variety of problems, as well as a seven-member Employee Assistance Unit offering help for alcohol or chemical dependency.

Officer Gina Onweiler, the unit's chemical dependency coordinator, said more LAPD employees are seeking help, in part because the department has become more supportive.

"I talk to the recruits about making sure they have a plan on how to deal with stress," she said.

"One thing that makes us real vulnerable -- you handle a difficult shift, a child homicide -- and you're dealing with the stress of that so you unwind with a couple glasses of wine and deaden the emotions.

"If you continue down that road, alcohol can become a problem for you if that's how you cope with the stress."

Department policy requires that any officer involved in alcohol-related misconduct is automatically referred for counseling. All officers are also given a Johns Hopkins University Hospital survey to help them identify their own addictions.

LAPD psychologist Denise Jablonski-Kaye said alcohol is a problem for many officers and a factor in suicide because it lowers impulse control. The perception that having a few drinks after work is harmless contributes to the problem.

"You're thinking, 'I have a job. I'm responsible. I'm well thought of. I got a house. If I was homeless and standing out there by that bonfire, I'd probably have a problem,'" McConnell said.

"So even if we're experiencing some problem, our problems most of the time aren't manifest like (problems of) the people we encounter on the street."

Police officers bonding over drinks -- a practice sometimes referred to as "choir practice" -- can become a highlight of an otherwise stressful day.

But the department is now discouraging such events and has toughened discipline for alcohol-related infractions, said West Valley homicide Detective Rick Swanston.

"I don't think that's a bad thing," Swanston said. "What's more important -- bonding, or the consequence of drinking and not getting home to your family?"

beth.barrett(at)dailynews.com

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