South Florida PBA Union President Steadman Stahl On Stress Of Being A Police Officer

MIAMI (CBSMiami) - It has been a tough week for law enforcement officers in South Florida, where two Hollywood Police Officers passed, one was killed by a suspect, and this Friday, two officers were shot while on duty in Doral.

CBS4 spoke with Steadman Stahl, President of the South Florida Police Benevolent Association about the lasting impact these events may have on officers.

"The stress of the job is tremendous, officers have to make split-second decisions, just like today, they had seconds to make a decision that will take will take hours, months or years to determine if they did something right or wrong," Stahl said.

On-the-job pressures don't just stay at work.

"You'll take it home, it's going to bother me a little bit, just last week the Hollywood Police officers, I've had personal friends that have died in the line of duty, those are things that don't go away."

Years ago, there was a stigma for people, especially with law enforcement, to talk about mental health problems.

"Suicides were the leading cause for police officers just a couple of years ago, but now we're embracing it, we're telling people it's okay to say when it's not okay, it's okay to reach out and ask for help."

This past week has been rough on officers who knew the Hollywood Officers, Stahl told CBS4, showing some appreciation will help some.

"I think the best thing you can do when you see a police officer say thank you to the officers, those small acts of kindness go a long way."