BUFFALO, N.Y. — New York State Senator Tim Kennedy announced $50,000 in state funding was being dedicated to mental health programs for first responders.
The funding is being given to the New York Law Enforcement Assistance Program, a nonprofit that hosts post critical incident seminars for first responders and their families.
Senator Kennedy says that within the last two years, there have been five Buffalo Police officers who have died by suicide in the 14220 zip code.
According to NYLEAP, six officers have died by suicide in 2023.
"We know that these statistics are grave and continue to get worse, it's never easy to talk about, especially in this time of need," Kennedy said. "We're working to help folks in need of help, but that's why we're here today."
NYLEAP was founded by Warren County Sheriff peer support director James Banish.
Banish started NYLEAP in 2017, nearly a decade after his brother, also a law enforcement officer, died by suicide in 2008.
"What sparked all this and the interest in NYLEAP and whatnot was after I finally went and got help," Banish said. "Even talking to a therapist could be a career ender back in the day, it's not that way anymore."
NYLEAP hosts confidential post critical incident seminars and also trains officers in peer to peer support techniques. This funding will be used to host a seminar in Buffalo in 2024.
"We can add more classes, peer training classes, so instead of 2500, we're hoping to exceed 3500 by the end of the year," Banish said. "We're going to continue to use that money to keep training."