In this episode of Beyond the 1st Response, Christy and Ciara talk with Dave Dyke, a form police officer from Minnesota, about life Beneath the Badge.

They Didn’t Ask

Dave had been struggling with the calls piling up inside him over the years. Until one day, he just couldn’t take it anymore. After having a mental health crisis, he spends five days inpatient at a behavioral health facility. He went in a Monday, left on Friday, and right back to the streets vested up on the following Monday. The department knew Dave had spent five days inpatient. However, they didn’t ask questions, and he didn’t offer any. Right back to the grind of what brought him down, to begin with. How is there no fit for duty or buddy checks on him during the shifts?

The Final Call

After the brutal murder of a 15-year-old boy by his step Father, Dyke couldn’t do it anymore. That wasn’t the first call that started him down the path of PTSD, but it was the last call. Dave’s wife, Christie, recognized the need for her husband to seek proper help and get out of a job that started to make him a shell of a man. 

Beneath The Badge

After going to Utah for treatment with the support of his family, Dave and Christie wanted to start conversing with first responders and their families. Changing the conversation from I don’t want to talk about my day, to it was a good, bad, or worse day. They candidately share the struggles, signs, and support to get through what so many families silently live within their four walls. 

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