Mental Health: Officer Wellness

• The Department of Justice released two complementary reports that focus on the mental health and safety of the nation’s federal, state, local and tribal police officers. The reports, Law Enforcement Mental Health and Wellness Act: Report to Congress and Law Enforcement Mental Health and Wellness Programs: Eleven Case Studies, were published by the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS Office) as required by the Law Enforcement Mental Health and Wellness Act (LEMHWA) of 2017.
  • The first report, Law Enforcement Mental Health and Wellness Act: Report to Congress, includes 22 recommendations to Congress ranging from supporting programs to embed mental health professionals in law enforcement agencies to supporting the development of model policies and implementation guidance for law enforcement agencies to make substantial efforts to reduce suicide.
  • The case studies report, Law Enforcement Mental Health and Wellness Programs: Eleven Case Studies, is designed to provide an overview of multiple successful and promising law enforcement mental health and wellness strategies with the joint aims of informing Congress, state and local government officials, and the law enforcement field. The report includes 11 case studies from a diverse group of sites across the United States.
• Researchers have found that working as a police officer can contribute to health problems. To combat the health hazards that come with policing, individual officers and entire agencies are looking to wellness programs for police and other criminal justice professionals.
• Officer wellness is often perceived as how fast an officer can run a mile or how much he/she can bench press, but how often is mental health considered as a component of officer wellness? “Officer Wellness and PTSD: A Perspective from the Field” dives into this very serious problem affecting our officers.
• Officer mental health is an often overlooked component of officer safety and wellness.  IACP is committed to raising awareness around the importance of officer mental wellness and providing corresponding resources to help.
• The IACP National Symposium on Law Enforcement Officer Suicide and Mental Health: Breaking the Silence report offers actionable strategies designed as a road map for police departments seeking to include officer mental wellness as a core element of officer safety and well-being and to mitigate the threat of officer death by suicide.
• The Critical Components of Officer Mental Wellness and Resiliency brochure discusses how family and friends of law enforcement can help prevent officer suicide.
• The Officer Suicide Prevention and Awareness poster, funded by the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services, raises awareness and provides resources to prevent officer suicides.
• The Signs Within: Suicide Prevention Education and Awareness report provides suicide prevention education and awareness. The report includes recommendations for command staff, common factors associated with suicide, and national and local resources.
• BLUE Documentary is a docudrama that was originally conceived to create greater public awareness of all too frequent suicides among law enforcement in the United States, and as a catalyst for mental and emotional health training programs for police departments across the country.
• “Health, Safety, and Wellness Program Case Studies in Law Enforcement” presents four recent case studies that serve as models for safety, health, and wellness programs focused on the physical and psychological health of officers.
• “Making Officer Safety and Wellness Priority One: A Guide to Educational Campaigns” provides law enforcement agencies with an informative process in developing and implementing effective campaign strategies to create a culture of officer safety and wellness. 

<<< Back to Mental Health Resources

Last updated: January 2019.