A Psycho-Educational Intervention Program for Police Officers

Abstract

Introduction:

Recent studies have documented the adverse impacts of disaster exposure for emergency response personnel. Increasingly, researchers and practitioners are focusing on the role of resiliency in reducing the risk of adverse mental health impacts on first responders. To that end, a novel resiliency-building intervention program was developed and implemented by an external peer-assistance program for a large urban police department. The program includes education and debriefing components and initially was piloted in precincts and now is being implemented at the firing range. A session consists of a team of two peer support officers and a mental health clinician presenting a short psycho-educational program designed to familiarize officers to signs and symptoms of distress and promote effective coping. This is followed by an hour-long small group discussion that gives officers an opportunity to discuss events that have affected them, giving them a better opportunity to mitigate the Stressors associated with those events. To assess the feasibility of this approach, a process evaluation of the program was conducted.

Methods:

Audio-taped, in-depth, semi-structured individual interviews were conducted with 25 program facilitators (14 peers and 11 clinicians). A thematic analysis of the transcripts followed.

Results:

Participants reported that the program was well received by officers of all ranks. An important aspect of this program was the relative privacy afforded by offering it in a more neutral setting of the firing range as opposed to a precinct. The presence and involvement of their fellow officers was seen as significant in fostering openness and normalizing officers' experiences. Participants also reported that this support mechanism likely would help prepare officers for disasters and other critical incidents.

Conclusions:

This program is a feasible and relatively inexpensive approach to providing psycho-education to police officers. This model maybe effective for other departments.