Challenge
Law enforcement officer safety and wellness goes beyond physical health. Supporting officer mental health and well-being is vital to the safety of officers, their department and peers, and the communities they serve. Officers struggling with physical health, sleep, nutrition, experiences around trauma, mental health issues, or substance misuse have lesser quality of lives, are less able to take care of each other in the line of duty, and are often less successful in protecting and supporting the communities they serve.
To address these issues, EDC is partnering with the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) to develop innovative, user-friendly resources to support a broad range of officer safety and wellness needs.
Key Activities
EDC is carrying out the following activities:
- Develop a comprehensive virtual toolkit to assist agencies in the development of health and wellness programs, with an emphasis on stress management, trauma, substance misuse, and grief
- Produce a series of microlearning videos that highlight the relationship between health, including mental health, and a variety of topics
- Design and deliver the first-of-its-kind law enforcement agency virtual community of practice—including urban, rural, and tribal departments—to encourage peer-to-peer sharing and group learning focused on implementing best practices in officer safety and wellness
Impact
- The comprehensive resources developed will support police departments in all 50 states to better support the well-being and safety needs of their officers.
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PROJECT DIRECTOR
