Here is a letter that I just sent to City Hall. This is MY letter and does not necessarily represent any one elses opinion on this matter. A month ago I requested permission to film a documentary in the firehouse concerning the subject of Suicide and the steps that could be taken to prevent an event like this from ever happening again. I followed proper procedure and even spoke with you about this matter...but never received an answer back from anyone. I went ahead and produced this short film anyway. As you can see...the main focus of this video was solely to bring awareness to a subject that has long been kept in the dark. Mayor Sheehan, there was an employee that died by suicide while under the employ of the Albany Fire Dept. Four years ago my family was devastated because of this loss....my extended brotherhood of firefighters were shocked to their core because of what happened. The biggest shock and disappointment came from the previous Mayor of this City. What happened was a terrible thing. It was difficult to deal with on all levels, but when the leader of a city makes promises to a family during a very confusing time...I guess it should be taken as fact. You are a CEO of a company Mayor...you tell me. If a CEO of a company OR city ( as he was known to describe himself as ) make a promise to do something..should they not be help accountable? Not only did the Mayor lie, not only did the city make false statements about my brother...but the city at that time also ran from a problem that is become more a problem in Fire and Police departments across our country. The previous administration hid from the truth. The previous administration stayed in the dark. The previous administration did nothing. Mayor...not once in five years has The Mayor of the city that lost a firefighter to suicide ..ever come to any event that had to do Suicide Prevention. Not once has The Chief of The Albany Fire Dept ever supported an event that had to do with Mental Health issues. AND recently Mayor..not once did I receive any correspondence from The City..The Mayor or any official from The Albany Fire Department about the documentary that was being made...to help bring awareness to a subject that affects your workers. Soon I shall be working on other events and short films in order to bring awareness ... and hopefully save a life. I will be working closely with my friend, Congressman Paul Tonko to help legislate laws that are long over do. Injuries occur on our job..it is the nature of what we do. When a death results from that injury...it is called a LIne of Duty Death. The definition of the word injury MUST be expanded to include injuries sustained ..that are not easy to se..as a result of what we see on our jobs. AND ..IF a death occurs as a result of THAT injury...as with my brother Jerry...that his death be considered a Line of Duty Death. I ask that the City of Albany take the lead on an issue that is now being recognized in Fire and Police departments across this country. George Sokaris Here is the video..I look foward to hearing from you. https://youtube/watch?v=VIo5WDx3RdU
Posted on: Thu, 02 Oct 2014 16:22:37 +0000