Renewed Focus on Improving Health, Wellness for Law Enforcement Officers
There are efforts across the board to improve mental health and wellness options for law enforcement officers. Federal law enforcement face significant stressors on the job that can have a variety of impacts on an officer’s life and well-being.
One of the efforts is a new report from the Department of Justice (DOJ) which provides a guide on best practices to advance officer wellness.
The report was required under President Biden’s executive order on accountable policing and says prioritizing the health and safety of law enforcement and other public safety officers is “critical.”
“Advancing practices and strategies to strengthen psychological health and well-being are important to counteract the tremendous work stress, fatigue, burnout, and other harms that law enforcement agency personnel may experience,” the executive summary states.
The report focuses on four strategic pillars to improve wellness:
Eliminate stigma surrounding mental health and other barriers to help-seeking.
· Facilitating positive perceptions about mental health and seeking help.
· Improving trust and confidence in services.
· Reducing apprehension associated with seeking mental help.
· Utilizing technology to improve access.
· Expanding the network of qualified mental health professionals.
Demonstrate leadership and prioritize psychological health and well-being.
· Strengthening leadership skills.
· Investing in occupational health and wellness programs.
· Using data to find specific health risks and opportunities for early intervention.
· U workers to be strategic, intentional, and thoughtful.
Utilize policy to advance health and well-being.
· Engaging in practices that mitigate occupational stressors.
· Accurately describing how mental and physical health symptoms can impact work.
· Supporting personnel in recovery.
· Protecting against self-harm
· Reinforcing confidentiality and privacy protections.
Strengthen protections against stressors, trauma, and negative health outcomes.
· Offering mental health support and services.
· Protecting against short and long-term negative health effects of trauma.
· Mitigating the risk of suicide.
In addition, the report mentions that health and well-being are also important for officer recruitment and retention, public safety, and for reducing long-term costs associated with staff illnesses, injuries, and turnover.
Congressional Efforts
There are also efforts underway in Congress to improve health and wellness programs for the law enforcement community.
The DHS Suicide Prevention and Resiliency for Law Enforcement Act (H.R. 2577) was recently reported favorably out of the House Homeland Security Committee.
Under the legislation, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) would need to establish a new mental health support program for its law enforcement employees.
It would require officials to set up a mental health and wellness program for law enforcement personnel inside the DHS medical office.
Companion legislation was passed out of committee in the Senate.
“This commonsense, bipartisan bill will ensure these dedicated law enforcement professionals have the mental health resources they need so they can effectively protect our communities,” said the bill’s sponsor, Senate Homeland Security Committee Chairman Gary Peters (D-MI).