AMERICAN POLICE BEAT: JUNE 2017 7 Boston Strong: Boston Police Commissioner Bill Evans reaches up to shake hands with Mayor Marty Walsh’s girlfriend, Lorrie Higgins, after he crossed the finish line of the 121st Boston Marathon in April. (Photo by Jessica Rinaldi/The Boston Globe via Getty Images) H H ere’s an idea, maybe throw in a few laws protect- ing police officers from deadly working condi- tions to go along with some of those “back the blue” laws that increase penalties for people that assault cops. If you read American Police Beat, you’re familiar with a rather disturbing trend. Between things like toxic lead levels, black mold and asbestos, cops are routinely exposed to serious health hazards just by showing up to work. But unlike other issues, health and safety is anything but sexy. Most people just assume their place of work is free of carcinogens and other toxic threats. That’s probably what cops in Washington D.C. thought too. But it turns out that the D.C. Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) claims it did not receive any notifi- cations alerting them of as- bestos or its removal to take place at the department’s headquarters. For the uninformed, as- bestos is a lethal carcinogen which can have a long laten- cy period of several decades, that kills between 11,586 and 15,510 Americans each year. It wasn’t until officers showed up for work recently that a sign was posted to the front door saying asbestos removal was happening. The stuff is everywhere – even in Acting Police Chief Peter Newsham’s office, other offices and even under the floor tiles. The city claims the MPD was notified on March 23. The local police union says they have no evidence that happened. “I don’t know why that is the case that the the Po- lice Union was not made aware of the asbestos work, because we did notify the tenants,” said Spencer Da- vis, the Deputy Director for Facilities with the D.C. Department of General Ser- vices. “I’ve not received any- thing. I’ve received prob- ably a couple dozen emails with pictures of the front door of the building and the concerns that the officers and civilians have at this point,” said Robert Underwood, gthe chairman of the Safety Committee for the D.C. Po- lice Union. Asbestos is really, really serious stuff. Workers at the Washington Navy Yard were exposed to asbestos from the protective equipment meant to prevent them from injury. Steel and ironworkers also used to wear gloves, bibs, and coveralls which were lined with asbestos. The city of D.C. believes all asbestos has been found and the rest of the MPD building is safe. But is that really the kind of thing that we want to take a chance on? Asbestos will kill you dead OFFICER SAFETY ALERT Save the Date! ConferenceTopicsInclude: -Survivingandthrivinginacareerinlaw enforcement -Strategiestomanageexposuretotrauma -Preparingyouragencyforaline-of-dutydeath -Classesforlawenforcementspouses -StrategiestoavoidorworkthroughPTSD -Leadingahealthyagency -Police2f¿cerdeathanddisaEilityEene¿ts -Helpingyourfamilythroughyourcareer -Financialplanningforlawenforcement of¿cers -Settingupasuccessfulpeersupportprogram -Policechaplainprograms 3rd Annual C.O.P.S. National Conference on Law Enforcement Wellness & Trauma November 10-12, 2017 Grapevine, Texas Conference will be held at: Hilton DFW Lake Executive Conference Center 1800 Texas 26 Grapevine, TX 76051