 Hi, everyone. I wanted to take a moment to explain why there was no video that was posted yesterday and why we were silent across most of our social media platforms. Unfortunately, over the weekend, one of our deputies took her own life, and out of respect for April, we did not feel that it would be appropriate to post a video as we normally do. I did want to share with all of you the Sheriff's Media Availability that he did yesterday in regards to this tragic passing. Obviously, all of us are heartbroken, as April was one of the most kind and loving individuals that you could ever hope to meet. Remember that you are not alone. The National Suicide Hotline is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. The number for them is 1-800-273-8255. Again, that number is 1-800-273-8255. I will see you all tomorrow. It's with great sadness that we announced that Deputy April Rodriguez died yesterday. She was a member of the Pasco Sheriff's Office for approximately four years. Our condolences go out to April's family, including her three children, two of which are minors. We ask that you keep them all in your prayers, respect their loss, and allow them the ability to heal on their own terms. I promised her husband one thing I told him I would do at this beginning of the press conference. To tell everyone how special April was, and that she was deeply loved, that she was a good person, with a great heart, and loved her children very much. If there's one thing that you take away from me today, please let that be it. The completion of suicide affects so many in our community, and so many communities, including Pasco County, and in law enforcement. Every day our members continuously go out to calls where people attempt suicide and complete suicide. This is not just a law enforcement issue. This is a community issue. As of yesterday, April was supposed to report to work early in the morning. She failed to report to work. Our deputies tried to make contact. She never responded. They went to her apartment. At the apartment, they saw her foot, and they thought it was a medical emergency. They made entry into the apartment, and they found that she had committed suicide. The recent suicides by law enforcement is sadly not new, but it's something that has more focus on it. I know one of the things that many people will ask, you know, how do agencies respond in such a situation such as this and yesterday? Yesterday our victim advocates, our chaplains on a critical incident stress management team, were available to the deputies that were on April's squad and to her family. We as a command staff, we spoke to April's squad. It's probably one of the most difficult things you'll ever have to do. Our critical incident stress management team, a tenant read-offs beginning this morning, and we're going to do it on Wednesday also on the other side of schedule. And the Tampa Bay Regional Critical Incident Stress Management Team is available to all our members. The other thing is, what have we done as an agency in the past several years? Because I can tell you, as a community, as a law enforcement, there's a more focus on this issue, which is very important that we discuss about it. Several years, beginning several years ago, we sent members through crisis intervention training, and this block of instruction was expanded in 2018 titled Officer Wellness. We have had multiple trainings, an emotional survival for law enforcement, not only for our members, but for our members' families. We developed a post-traumatic stress app that is on the phones for our members so that they can resource 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. We continuously inform our members of the confidential services provided by the Employee Assistance Program, the Chaplain Corps, and the Crisis Incident Stress Management Team. Mental Health First Aid is also taught at new member orientation. We also have a unique situation that our Chaplain Corps started several years ago. It's called the Family Support Network. It assists our families and loved ones who serve in law enforcement. This past Saturday, we had approximately 70 people at this training, and where it really hits home is the fact that, you know, myself, the colonel, and numerous members of the organization spoke, and I'll never forget, a spouse asks, you know, how can somebody get help when they're doing mental health? And so as I stress here, and I stress there this weekend, it's, you know, we tell them that there's resources available. We keep it confidential. There's a reason it's confidential, because if it's not confidential, people won't seek help. And so we have those resources available, and so we plead and we beg. If people need help, the resources are out there for them. Going forward, we're going to continue to provide more training, more resources, and more opportunity for help for our members and their families. And we'll continue to stress that in seeking help, it will remain confidential unless a member themselves publicly come out and say they need help. As I told her husband, April's death will not define who she is. Hopefully from the sadness of her death, someone will seek help. That her life may save other people. Whether you're in law enforcement, military, a first responder, a student, a doctor, retired, it doesn't matter where you are in life. If you need help, obtain it. There are people that want to help you. Don't believe that a permanent solution will fix a temporary problem. And to everybody out there, this is not just a Pasco Sheriff's Office issue today. This is a community issue. We are dealing with a health problem, an epidemic of suicides. It affects all of us. If you need help, please seek it. Because people are left behind that are grieving. People are left behind trying to pick up the pieces. People are left behind trying to answer why. In law enforcement, we always think that we can solve everything and we can answer every why. We have every piece of evidence. Unfortunately in suicides, we can't do that. And so we ask everybody, if you need help, please seek it. There are resources available. Is there anything I can answer at this time? I'll try to answer. Were there any traumatic particular incidents or cases that she'd been involved in or we don't know what led her to this? Yeah, I mean, as to how she'd been through anything very extremely stressful, I would say everybody has in law enforcement. Everybody, day in, day out, when you're on your ship, deals with stressful situations. We have those resources available. If somebody does, and that's what we say, it's confidential, resources are available. Like everything else, it hits home with everybody. I remember about a year or so ago, I was backing up April on a call. And she's a good deputy. She did a great job out there. And so I shared that with her husband. And he goes, oh yeah, she told me about that. And so those are the types of things that everybody is special. But in law enforcement, we see the worst of society. And so those are the types of things that weigh in on us. And I wish everybody wishes, we can say specifically why she made the decision she made. But unfortunately, we can't. Do you know if she took advantage of any of the resources to share us office? That's going back to confidentiality of all members. We keep it confidential because that's the only way people will seek help. And we want to make sure that for all our members they understand we do not know who asks for help. We do not know who calls the EAP line. We do not know who reaches out to the SISM team. We do not know who reaches out to our chaplains. And you know what, I don't want to know. I don't want to know because I want them to seek help. And seeking help, if they find out who's seeking it, that's a good thing. I do not need to know about it because it's more important that they get the help they need. Sure. If you think there's anything in the culture of law enforcement or first responders who think of people as being tough, is there anything in the culture that needs to change in order to protect people from suicide? The military has done a phenomenal job over the years to talk about post-traumatic stress. And so it's one of those things that I think first responders were catching up. You know what, you talk to the professionals in the military and they talk about post-traumatic stress and how hard it is to change the culture. It's very hard to change the culture where people are told to suck it up, where people are told you don't show any sign of weakness. And you know what, being able to talk about post-traumatic stress, having those issues, it's not weakness. You know, when we get banged up and you get bruised, you know, people think, oh, it's a badge of honor. I got scraped. I got stitches. But you know what, seeing what law enforcement officers deal with every day, it's not an illness. That's when we get bruised. And bruising sometimes is mental. And so people can be overcome. And unfortunately, there's been a stigma that once you admit or say that you have an issue, you want to deal with something, people think it brands you for your career. And so we have to continuously move forward to say, no, it doesn't brand and identify who you are. In the midst of your human being. Because we wear Kevlar and we go off to our shifts and we're told, go to one call, go to the next call, go to the next call. And we talked about this with the squad yesterday. You know, there's times you can let it out. Because if you don't let it out, you do not talk about the issues in your life. It's going to destroy you from within. And so yes, I think we can continuously get better. I think as a profession, as a society, we need to change the stigma. You know, mental health is an illness. It's a health care issue. And that's the only way we're going to address it going forward. Sure. If you're aware of how many times this may have happened, this tragedy, may have occurred with your agency. We had a discussion about that and we do not remember the last time that somebody completed suicide or attempted suicide recently. And so those are the several things, you know. Everybody wishes we can, you know, either look forward and say, hey, this person has issues that we need to address, or we want to look back and say what were signs that we could have done something better, which can help us in the future. And so we're like everybody else. We are constantly asking that question why. Sure. If we clarify, you said that you think suicide is an epidemic. And I think you said across the community. Did you say the first responder community or the community as a whole? And the one thing I want to make sure that we stress is that it's getting attention today because April was a law enforcement officer at the Pascua Sheriff's Office. And it's getting media attention, it's getting out there. But there are so many families at home right now that have lost a loved one to suicide. And their tragedy is just as important to us. It just affects us differently because April was part of our family. But everybody who has lost somebody to suicide, those deaths, those lives are just as important to us. And as a community as a whole, we want to stop this epidemic that affects everybody. But in particular, what we are trying to do within the Sheriff's Office is help those because we know the stress of what detention deputies and law enforcement officers see every day is very, very painful a lot of times. And when they go home, they take those scars with them. And we have to tell them those scars, they're not scars that you get sewn up with stitches. They're scars that you get healed up through our chaplain corps, EAP programs, and for the family members. Because these scars affect those families, our children, our wives, our husbands, boyfriends and girlfriends, just as much as it affects us. The Sheriff's Office at which department are you supposed to watch for? Yeah, she's been with us for approximately four years. She started in January of 2015. She was in District 3, Trinity District. Trinity Holiday 54 corridor, 19 corridor. Was she prior military? Well, I don't have her full back at all with me. How's her squad doing today? Well, yesterday was their last day on. And so as soon as we could, we were able to get them all off the street. We brought them in. We had our chaplains there. As a command staff, we went down there to address them. They were heartbroken. Absolutely. This is not just somebody to work with. This is a friend. This is somebody that, you know, every morning when they go on their shift, they were there together. When they were back in each other phone calls, they were there together. And it's the same thing for them too, you know, the why. And what's even harder is the guilt. People have the guilt that I have done something. And that's the one thing we told them is that as we go forward, we're going to be there for them. The chaplains, everybody's going to be there for them. But you can't hold that guilt. You know, everybody did everything they could. And we know they did. Everybody reached out. Everybody talked to her about her friends with her. You know, that's the one thing. They have to recognize that they did everything they could to help her out. And to our family and our children, know that your mom loved you so much. Always live with that. Your mom loves you. And I just continuously ask those two of our children and minors, please respect them. Because it's going to be, I can't imagine what they're going through right now. There will be, if you go into our site, April, it's ironic. She had done some tweet-alongs. So on our social media site, there are pictures of her available. Thank you all very much. So to answer your question, one of the favorite parts of my job is working with kids. I try to interact with them as much as I can. And let them know that cops are not somebody that they need to be afraid of. And that we're always there to help them. And also try to show them that we are positive role models.