Trustees in Oak Park have authorized a new program that will administer wellness checks for its 106 sworn police officers, though not all board members agreed it was necessary.
The village board voted 6-1 Oct. 19 to authorize a $19,965 contract with First Responders Wellness Center, LLC to provide the services. The contract contains options for two additional years.
Police chief LaDon Reynolds said a similar program used by the police department in Mundelein has received “rave reviews.”
“There’s been evidence to suggest officers have a tendency to internalize a lot of the trauma that’s associated with the job,” Reynolds said. “What we’re trying to do is establish a culture of wellness, not only physical but mental wellness. This job does create difficulties for an officer on an individual level, but also interacting with family and friends. Putting together a healthy officer is what we want to push forward.”
Reynolds said there can be a “stigma” inside the profession that may preclude some officers from seeking professional help for mental health issues. He hopes creating this mandatory program will benefit the entire department.
“If there is an established program in the police department, it kind of de-stigmatizes it,” Reynolds said. “Many years ago, an officer who would need or require this type of care [may be afraid] if that info was disclosed or someone found out, that officer would be afraid they may lose their job or be viewed as less than. I plan on taking advantage of this program myself. It’s about leading.”
According to the vendor, a “wellness check” is a 55-minute one-on-one confidential session between an officer and a licensed mental health professional. The session is an assessment to an employee’s current abilities to cope with job stressors and to learn additional healthy ways to deal with existing and future stressors.
The wellness checks are not a fit-for-duty evaluation and not a form of punishment, officials said. If an officer presents mental health issues, the clinician will recommend the employee seek treatment voluntarily and they will be given relevant resources.
All of First Responders Wellness Center’s clinicians are former first responders, which officials say should make the program more effective.
“Officers are more likely to open up to someone who understands the profession,” Reynolds said. “It’s one of the main reasons we selected this vendor.”
Trustee Susan Buchanan asked what would occur if a clinician found an officer to be unfit for duty. Reynolds said the sessions are confidential and the village would only be notified of an issue if it reached “some sort of legal mandate.”
Many board members praised the effort, saying it is a “preemptive” way to assess the current health of its police officers that should be beneficial to the community.
“I support this,” trustee Simone Boutet said. “I think it’s a good idea to check up on officers. I think one of the concerns in the nation is officers that are not well-balanced and how do we find them and identify them for purposes of wellness and not having negative impacts to the services they provide. This sounds like a good program.”
Trustee Arti Walker-Peddakotla said all village employees already have access to mental health services through the village’s Blue Cross Blue Shield insurance, a main reason she voted against the plan.
“I completely understand the burden that public service puts on a person,” said Walker-Peddakotla, who is a veteran. “I am acutely aware the suicide rate for veterans is about 20 per day. I completely understand the need for mental health, but we offer mental healthcare in our health plans. We need to offer better community mental health. We need to have mental healthcare first responders that are not police that are responding to mental health crisis.”
sschering@pioneerlocal.com
Twitter: @steveschering
