The day after a Big Apple cop exclusively told The Post he had been ostracized for seeking mental-health treatment amid an officer-suicide epidemic, the department reached out — but only to jam him up more, he said.
Twelve-year veteran Officer Jonathan Oliveras called the NYPD’s response to 10 officer suicides this year “smoke and mirrors” as he shared his own tale of woe — about losing his gun and becoming a pariah when he revealed to an NYPD doctor he was taking prescribed antidepressants.
“I’m sorry he went through that,” NYPD Police Commissioner James O’Neill said in response to Oliveras’ story the day after the article was published in print on Oct. 29.
“If that’s an issue we can talk to him about that and look at what happened in that specific incident and make sure it doesn’t happen in the future. This is what we need to do … we have to make sure people feel comfortable to come forward.”
But the department never called Oliveras offering him help, he said. Instead — the same day O’Neill was promising intervention — the NYPD sent members of its Internal Affairs Bureau to Oliveras’ post in Central Booking to ask if he had been on the clock when he posed for photos accompanying the article, he said.
“That infuriated the bosses here,” Oliveras told The Post, explaining he was not on the clock when the photos were shot.
“Instead of solving the issue they look how they could hurt you.”
The alleged response comes as the NYPD struggles to suppress a suicide epidemic among its ranks that has already claimed 10 active-duty officers this year alone.
Oliveras, 40, who served two tours in Iraq and has struggled with PTSD, told The Post last month that he regretted telling the NYPD he was in treatment and taking a moderate dose of Prozac since it stalled, if not ended, his career.
His gun was yanked and he was bounced around to multiple posts over a two-month span before landing at Central Booking, he said.
Since coming forward, though, Oliveras told The Post the support he’s received from current and former members of the NYPD has been overwhelming.
“Hearing the tone of their voice, and some seeing their facial expressions, as they share their stories gives me a sense that it was the right thing to do coming forward,” said Oliveras.
“We cannot discuss individual cases,” a spokesman with the NYPD said when asked for comment.