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Longtime Northglenn detective’s death illustrates law enforcement mental health struggle
KDVR ^ | Aug 13, 2025 | Nicole Fierro

Posted on 08/14/2025 2:33:23 PM PDT by real saxophonist

Longtime Northglenn detective’s death illustrates law enforcement mental health struggles

by: Nicole Fierro

Posted: Aug 13, 2025 / 03:17 PM MDT

NORTHGLENN, Colo. (KDVR) — The Northglenn Police Department shared some very difficult news about a longtime detective who passed away last week.

According to a social media post from the department, Detective Paul Gesi died last week after a long and courageous battle with severe post-traumatic stress disorder. The department said his death, a suicide, reflects the silent struggles many first responders face and is a stark reminder of the mental health challenges within law enforcement.

‘His work left an indelible mark’: Northglenn police prepare to lay one of their own to rest “More law enforcement officers die every year by suicide than are killed on the job in ways that we think about,” Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser said. “We think about law enforcement officers risking their lives going into a dangerous situation where they could be shot or otherwise hurt. But the real danger in terms of number of lives lost is suicide, because trauma, which law enforcement officers live with on a daily basis, stays in the body.”

Weiser is the chair of the Colorado Peace Officer Standards and Training Board.

“We want a culture of policing where people are told, maybe you want to take this one out, maybe you don’t want to go to this incident that could be very painful because it will retraumatize you from another painful incident,” Weiser said. “Because when people suffer in silence, that’s when we see the sorts of tragedies that we’re now talking about.”

A February article from the University of Colorado Anschutz talks about discoveries made by the University of Colorado Center for Combat Medicine and Battlefield researchers. The article states that as many as 30% of police officers, firefighters and EMS personnel will develop behavioral health challenges. In one study, they found nearly 70% of EMS professionals surveyed said they never have enough time to recover between traumatic events.

“I went to the legislature to make sure that we had a grant program of $5 million to support law enforcement agencies across Colorado so they could hire psychological services to be at the ready to be on call to support law enforcement officers,” Weiser said.

“Currently, there’s money being given out across Colorado to law enforcement agencies with the purpose of, how do we help support recruitment and retention of peace officers?” Weiser added. “And one of the most important tools to retain peace officers is to support their wellness and mental health.”

On POST’s website, this page is dedicated to resources for first responders, including hotlines and a peer support program.


TOPICS: Military/Veterans
KEYWORDS: health; lawenforcement; police; ptsd
PLEASE don't say "Permanent solution to a temporary problem." That is proof that you have never been there.
1 posted on 08/14/2025 2:33:23 PM PDT by real saxophonist
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To: real saxophonist

2 posted on 08/14/2025 3:13:03 PM PDT by E. Pluribus Unum (Democrats are the Party of racism, anger, hate and violence.)
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To: E. Pluribus Unum
Yeah, I don't see a smile in that picture. He's been through some stuff.

And Northglenn is not a place we hear much about in the news.

3 posted on 08/14/2025 3:17:16 PM PDT by real saxophonist (Michael Bennet claps on 1 and 3.)
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To: real saxophonist

There is no real cure.
You deal with it, that’s all.


4 posted on 08/14/2025 3:27:32 PM PDT by ComputerGuy
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To: ComputerGuy
Thank you. I won't go into detail, but 2008 was a pretty bad time for me. And yeah, I'm dealing with it.

And as you probably know, it's not only Law Enforcement. it's Military, too.

5 posted on 08/14/2025 3:33:20 PM PDT by real saxophonist (Michael Bennet claps on 1 and 3.)
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To: ComputerGuy

I just looked you up. We Marines LOVE our Corpsmen. In fact, my primary provider is a retired Corpsman. Guess what I call him.


6 posted on 08/14/2025 3:59:53 PM PDT by real saxophonist (Michael Bennet claps on 1 and 3.)
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To: real saxophonist

Semper Fi


7 posted on 08/14/2025 4:11:51 PM PDT by ComputerGuy
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