Arizona Republic from Phoenix, Arizona • Page 6

A8 The Arl.ona Republic Tuesday, Fcbrunry 13, 1990 Job pressures, police suicides linked, expert says JOB, from page A 1 need some kind of help," Anderson said. "Any time something like this occurs, you do reinforce what's available." Employee-assistance programs include private, confidential counseling; peer-support groups; and counseling available through employees' medical-insurances plans, Anderson said. Sam Ball, a private therapist in Mesa who specializes in police counseling, said he believes that more officers are willing to admit they need help today than they did in years past. "Fifteen years ago, when I began this, officers wouldn't come to you for anything," he said. "Now, they realize they're human, and getting some help is nothing to fear." Still, the biggest detriment that keeps police officers from seeking the help they may need is an image that they must remain strong, and handle their own problems, Donovan said.

"Until officers get out from behind the image that they have to be John Wayne, nothing's going to change," he said. "We believe suicides are on the increase among cops. Some departments are doing a good job of making programs available, but many officers find they have no place they feci they can turn when the need help." A recent survey by the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health confirmed the opinion of many experts that police officers are keenly Phoenix police Officer Mary Ann Gallagher, 28, shot and killed herself in her garage as her 8-ycar-old son sat in the house watching television. Donovan, an authority on police suicides who recently made a training videotape used by departments across the country, said the two suicides should send up a "red flag" to administrators. Sgt.

Andy Anderson, spokesman for the Phoenix Police Department, said the two suicides "came as a shock" to the department, which is advising officers about the variety of confidential counseling programs available. "There are a host of options out there for employees who feel they susceptible to social ills, said Michelle Gigliotti, a community-outreach specialist with Seafield 911, a private mental-health facility for law-enforcement officers in Davie, Fla. It showed, she said, that among 2,300 officers surveyed from 29 departments, 37 percent said they had serious marital problems; 23 percent had a serious alcohol problem; and 10 percent had a serious problem with drugs. "That is staggering," Gigliotti said. At Seafield, which has treatment programs for alcohol and drug abuse, all clients receive counseling aimed at preventing suicide.

"We find that the stress of the job is related to almost all the problems," Gigliotti said. "Wc have group sessions and lectures, but what it comes down to is individual counseling done usually with a counselor who has been in law enforcement because that's who these people trust best." One reason suicide may be so high among law-enforcement officers is the ready access to guns, said Donovan, who 17 years ago had the barrel of his service revolver in his mouth before deciding against pulling the trigger. "I was lucky," he said. "I'm still around. That's why we make suicide prevention a part of our overall program.

"You just don't get many second chances with an officer who is thinking about killing himself." brink of killing himself. Phoenix patrol Officer Jeffrey Robert Nation, a six-year veteran assigned to the South Mountain Precinct, died Saturday about 4:30 a.m. after a night of drinking, according to Lt. John Summers, a Chandler police spokesman. His wife had been consoling him in the living room of their Chandler home when he pulled the trigger, Summers said.

The sijicide appears related to personal problems, including the death of his young son several years ago, Summers said. On Jan. 4, also in Chandler, At sound of the tone, you WILL dial '1-602' EMISSION FAILURE RATES Vehicles' failure rates by percentage in February 1989. Vehicles listed are the only models with Arizona failure rates of more than 40 percent. AUTOMOBILES M'M -Indicates failure rates over 40 percent Certain vehicles often fail testing CERTAIN, from page A 1 Year 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 38.2 WVfil 28.3 16.1 nag 16.7 25.0 NS AT SOUND, from page A 1 previously could not assign.

Company officials said the dialing plan is needed because the state cannot add another area code. This request was turned down in mid-1988 by BcllCore, a research-and-devclop-mcnt pool for the seven regional Bell operating companies. Garcia said customer research indicates that this is the best way to meet demands and minimize customer complaints. Currently, there are 640 prefixes serving nearly 1.8 million lines. Thirty new prefixes are used up each year.

Bob Hardin, the company's switching-design manager, said the plan, called interchangeable dialing, will create about 150 more prefixes or enough to satisfy customers' needs for five years. Company officials said the prefixes will allow them to keep pace with the needs of an expanded cellular-telephone industry, provide increased lines for residents and businesses, and supply prefixes for special telephone systems for large businesses. In addition, officials said the prefixes are needed to keep up with a rapidly increasing pager industry. Garcia said problems are expected with the changeover because it will mean people will have to break longstanding dialing practices. "Sure, we expect some consternation from our customers," he said.

"That's why we're trying to give them plenty of time to adjust." Problems are expected from large business and government users with more-complicated telephone systems. Such pre-programmed services as speed dialing and facsimile machines may be affected. West plans to use direct mail, billing inserts, advertising, customer visits and a revised section in the White Pages of its telephone book to inform people about the changes. The move to interchangeable dialing is considered by industry experts to be an interim step that will allow states to meet demands until new area codes are parceled out in 1995. Arizona then again will be in the hunt for a second area code.

Also using the system are Maryland, Virginia, Atlanta, Dallas, Fort Worth and San Antonio. Growth also was a reason for the change there. Makemodel FORD EscortLynx FairmontMustang MAZDA 323 626 RX-7 TOYOTA Starlet 26.1 toPEi EEEF1 23.5 20.0 mikl 12.5 18.2 28.6 12,5 NS' NA NA NA NA' CHRYSLER New Yorker (E-class) NA NA 25.9 18.8 TRUCKS Year 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 37.5 NA NA NA NA 9.4 Makemodel MAZDA B-2000 Courier TOYOTA Pickup 2.4 liter DODGE 225CID-6 cyl. 318CID-V8 156CID-4 (Caravan) 156CID-4 (Voyager) 14.3 33.4 16.7 30.8, 16.7 17.9- 25.8 na pLSOESEl NA 29.0 NA NA MITSUBISHI Pickup NA NA NA EBO 21-1 NA model not available in those years NS no or inadequate sample Source: Energy and Environmental Analysis Inc. tailpipe tests conducted in February 1989.

The tests arc required to license vehicles in Maricopa and Pima counties. Energy and Environmental Analysis Inc. of Arlington, which conducted the study, found that certain makes, models and years of vehicles have a tendency to fail more often than others. "The analysis showed a relatively small number of families with very high failure rates," the company said in its report. "In addition, many of the same families reappeared year after year, suggesting common problems afflicting the particular engine line." The highest failure rate was 100 percent for the 1981 Mazda B-2000 pickup truck, although the study's author, K.G.

Dulccp, cautioned that only a handful of those trucks were tested. These trends emerged: Most failing cars had been the subject of recalls for emissions problems, In many cases, the owners had not taken their vehicles to dealers for free repairs. Failure rates were excessively high for cars and trucks in the 1981-84 model years. There are more models of four-cylinder cars and trucks with high failure rates than six- or eight-cylinder models. But that is because there are more four-cylinder vehicles on the road, the company said.

Eighty-five percent of the failed vehicles register carbon-monoxide levels more than twice the allowable limit, suggesting that minor relaxation of the standard would have little effect on the failure rate. But some automobile manufacturers say the problem could lie in the state's test. And they question the report's conclusions that certain families of engines are more polluting. Arizona is the only state conducting a "loaded" test, which checks emissions while vehicles' tires are spinning on sets of rollers. "The industry docs have some concerns with the loaded-mode test and the conclusions, or lack of conclusions, in the EEA (Energy and Environmental Analysis) report," said Gregory Walker, a staff enginper with the Detroit-based Motor Vehicle Manufacturers Association of the United States.

"Wc find that many of what the EEA terms as pattern-failure cases are merely older cars with high mileage." Spokesmen for Ford and Chry- WttStefa. The Arizona Republic line, then purge them during the tests, said Tony Ccrvone, a spokesman for Chrysler Corp. in Highland Park, Mich. That is why Chrysler vehicles, such as the four-cylinder Dodge Caravans and Voyagers of 1983-85, have above-average failure rates, he said. But Watson, the state's testing supervisor, said cars that purge pollutants when testing begins deserve to fail.

"They're dirty," he said. "They're polluting while they're waiting in traffic." Watson said owners of 1981 and newer models cannot be forced to spend more than $300 to correct an emissions problem. The maximum repair bill is $100 for 1975-80 vehicles and $50 for pre-1975 models. Pre-1967 vehicles do not have to be tested. Many repairs need not cost anything at all, Watson said.

If a vehicle has been recalled by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for emissions problems, a dealer must fix the problem for free if the vehicle has 50,000 or fewer miles, he said. If vehicles fail the tailpipe test, Watson said, their owners should check to see whether there has been a recall on the car. Then again, failure also could signal that the car needs a tuneup or has been maintained poorly, he said. slcr also criticized the loaded test.

"Some vehicles are simply not compatible with the type of test Arizona is doing," said Douglas Berens, manager of vehicle-emission compliance for Ford Motor Co. in Dearborn, Mich. "That doesn't mean those are dirty cars." But Bill Watson, who oversees emissions tests for the state Department of Environmental Quality, said the loaded test is fair. He said the test, instituted a year ago, is even more representative of a vehicle's emissions than a test while If the loaded lest is bad, he said, "Why is it that Chryslers fail and GM (General Motors) cars don't? I say it's a problem with their design." In addition, a spokesman for the Toyota Technical Center in Los Angeles said the failure rates in Arizona arc similar to those recorded by an idle lest in California. The spokesman, who declined to give his name, added that the loaded test may be a good way to detect vehicles with emissions problems.

"If there are problems, it'll definitely show up with a loaded-mode test," he said. Manufacturers, including Toyota, say some failures may be caused by long lines at emissions-test stations. Somo vehicles build up pollutants in Now at Citibank-even homeowners with little equity can qualify for a tax-saving loan. At Citibank; we tailor our Homeowner Loans to your needs. TAX SAVINGS.

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