Summary
“This report addresses the charge from Congress to identify successful officer mental health and wellness programs using a case study format as directed by the legislation. The authors sent out a survey through national law enforcement organizations and professional associations asking for nominations of best practices in law enforcement mental health and wellness programs and received more than 30 nominations covering a range of different sizes of agencies, geographical locations, and types of programs. The team selected 11 programs for the case studies representing Bend, Oregon; Charlotte-Mecklenburg, North Carolina; Cop2Cop (a national hotline); Dallas, Texas; Indianapolis, Indiana; Las Vegas, Nevada; Los Angeles, California; Milwaukee, Wisconsin; Nashville, Tennessee; San Antonio, Texas; and Tucson, Arizona. The team visited each site to conduct interviews, observe facilities and programs, and where possible talk to agency staff. These visits provided the opportunity for the team to understand the context and demographics of both a location and a law enforcement agency as well as the benefits provided to employees within an agency is a critical component to understanding a department’s approach to employee wellness and the established culture of wellness among officers. An agency’s diversity, salary provision, and benefits provision are pieces of the larger picture to be considered in partnership with an agency’s wellness programming. Some of the sites and programs selected have a historical commitment to officer mental health services, and some sites demonstrate how to build a deeper commitment to officer mental health programming with limited resources. Each case study layers a number of strategies from recruitment to retirement that cover a continuum of prevention, early intervention, crisis response, and follow up care. Interviewees at each site indicated during the case study site visits that there is no one single solution; rather, a holistic approach using multiple components gets the best results. And it also requires a strong commitment from the law enforcement agency at all levels—these programs may be successful because they have top-down and agency-wide support—to prioritize and support officer mental health and wellness in a way that overcomes stigma and builds confidence and trust in the privacy and sensitivity of the services available to officers, staff members, and their families.”—Page 11.
Contents
1. Overview. -- Insights from the case studies. -- How agencies get started. -- Location of the mental health and wellness unit, program, or services . -- Creating ownership and commitment to officer mental health and wellness. -- Continuum of mental health and wellness programs. -- Related components of a mental health and wellness program. -- Need for additional research on impact of mental health and wellness programs. --Unique aspects of each of the case studies. -- 2. Bend Police Department. -- Overview of BPD mental health programs. -- Persistent challenges to mental health programming. -- Key learnings for replication. -- Conclusion. -- 3. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department. -- Overview of CMPD mental health services. -- Persistent challenges to officer wellness programming. -- Key learnings for replication. -- Conclusion. -- 4. Cop2Cop. -- Background. -- About the agency. -- Description of the mental health program and approach. -- Advantages and challenges of offering the program nationwide. -- 5. Dallas Police Department. -- Overview of DPD mental health programs. -- Key learnings for replication. – Conclusion. 6. Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department. -- The Office of Professional Development and Wellness. -- Advantages and challenges of offering the program. -- Key learnings for replication. -- Conclusion. -- 7. Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department. -- Origins of PEAP. -- About the program. -- Resources provided by PEAP. -- Key learnings for replication Conclusion. -- Law enforcement mental health and wellness act. -- 8. Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department. -- Description of the unit. -- Advantages and challenges of offering the program. -- Key learnings for replication. -- Conclusion. -- 9. Milwaukee Police Department. -- Overview of the mental wellness team. -- Program expansion. -- Current program components. -- Key learnings for replication. -- Conclusion. -- 10. Metropolitan Nashville Police Department. -- Origins of the Police Advocacy and Support Services. -- Description of the PASS program. -- MNPD keys to success. -- Key learnings for replication. -- Conclusion. -- 11. San Antonio Police Department. -- Overview of SAPD mental health programs. -- Persistent challenges to officer wellness programming. -- Key learnings for replication. -- Conclusion. -- 12. Tucson Police Department. -- Overview of the Behavioral Sciences Unit. -- Advantages and challenges. -- Key learnings for replication. – Conclusion.