Wellness program aims to support officers in stressful jobs – Austin Daily Herald

John Collins

A funeral will be held Monday morning in his home state of Connecticut for Minneapolis police officer Jamal Mitchell, whose shooting death late last month sent shockwaves through law enforcement in the state and brought the issue of officer health to the forefront.

Over the past decade, police wellness programs have proliferated across the country, with the goal of helping officers maintain their mental health and better cope with the stresses of the job, making them more effective police officers.

In 2005, Lino Lakes Police Officer Shawn Silvera was struck and killed by a vehicle during a car chase. His partner, Kelly McCarthy, remembers the supportive response she received from her superiors, who Silvera said were open and honest with the grieving officers under their supervision. That mutual trust helped officers in the department get through the ordeal.

“Just like in any community, you can’t just show up when an emergency occurs and expect to have good relationships,” said McCarthy, who is now the Mendota Heights police chief. “It’s the day-to-day interactions that matter, and when an emergency occurs, it either exposes cracks or it strengthens bonds.”

McCarthy took over as chief just three years after Mendota Heights Officer Scott Patrick was shot and killed during a traffic stop.

Her department now offers officers mental health support and has programs in place to allow them to exercise while on the job, but she said the most important thing is to support each other. McCarthy said some police departments that experience such losses can cripple them, putting a huge mental strain on officers.

“The best thing we can do to honor these officers is to be ethical, competent and kind police officers, so we’re going to keep that spirit of service alive through Scott,” McCarthy said.

McCarthy said in his time on the job he has seen a change in the way officers deal with mental health issues.

“When I started in law enforcement, that was something you couldn’t talk about,” McCarthy said. “If you wanted to ask for help, it was something you had to keep secret, because the idea was that asking for help meant you were damaged or flawed, and if the police department found out, they’d fire you or not promote you or do all sorts of things to you.”

While many of the stresses on police officers remain the same as they were 20 years ago, McCarthy said one of the main causes of stress is the proliferation of firearms. Previously, officers rarely encountered firearms on a routine dispatch, but now they could encounter a firearm on any dispatch, she said.

“I think we’re definitely struggling with that right now, too many guns in the wrong hands,” McCarthy said. “I know people are afraid to speak up, but if we want to protect our officers and support law enforcement, we’ve got to start with guns.”

Researchers at the Illinois Criminal Justice Information Agency have compiled studies that show how police work impacts officers and their ability to do their jobs effectively.

Research suggests that everyday stress can lead to conditions ranging from mild, like irritability and fatigue, to more serious conditions like heart disease, and that police officers tend to have a shorter life expectancy and higher suicide rates than the general public.

For police officers, facing violence is a constant threat and a source of stress. According to FBI Uniform Crime Data analyzed by APM Research Lab, police officers across the state have reported an increase in assaults and injuries on the job over the past decade. This includes both aggravated assaults and simple assaults, but the analysis excludes reports that are simply threats of violence.

The police wellness movement began in earnest with the creation of the Task Force on 21st Century Policing in 2015, said Michael Hatch, senior program manager at the National Institute of Police Research, which helps police departments launch wellness programs. A 2017 congressional bill provided funding for the program. Since then, officer wellness programs have proliferated across the country.

“This was simply an opportunity to prevent police suicides and prepare our officers to handle the day-to-day stresses of being a police officer,” Hatch said.

Improving wellness is also a way to retain officers. Minneapolis and communities across the state have been hit hard in recent years by officers applying for disability due to PTSD and leaving the police force. Minneapolis has lost about 340 officers in the past four years.

Health is now one of the main objectives in both police officer training and continuing education by the POST Board, which oversees the training of police officers in the state.

Minneapolis also has a court-enforced policing agreement with the state Department of Human Rights that includes a number of provisions requiring the city to strengthen wellness programs for police officers to help them perform effectively in high-stress situations involving citizens.