The Department of Justice awarded nearly $95 million Thursday to improve public safety in Tennessee. The money will support a range of law enforcement programs, from DNA testing to victim support services.
One major focus for this latest batch of funding is the mental health of police officers.
Peer support programs have grown increasingly popular among law enforcement agencies across the country — including the Metro Nashville Police Department — because they bring fellow officers together to help each other through their toughest moments.
A new grant will allow Metro Police to expand the counseling program to 25 different departments throughout the region, serving more than 2,400 officers. MNPD Deputy Police Chief John Drake says officers prefer to talk to other officers about their mental wellbeing.
“Having Nashville as a hub, we can train these officers from other agencies and get them to the same level as we are and have this collaboration and partnership,” Drake says. “And that’s a win for the Middle Tennessee area.”
Statistics show that more police die by suicide than in the line of duty. At least 195 current and former officers nationwide have committed suicide so far this year, according to Blue H.E.L.P., an organization that raises awareness about police mental health.
Drake says officers need help coping — both for the daily stresses of the job and the major traumas they witness.
“Our police officers are human,” he says. “They go through spikes and valleys. One moment they’re dealing with a very good situation. The next moment it’s a tragedy.”
Now, Metro Police can spread its peer support network to smaller departments with fewer mental health resources. The department received more than $365,000 from the DOJ’s Office of Community Oriented Policing to expand the program.
Director Phil Keith Keith described Nashville’s peer support program as “cutting edge.”
“What we’re starting to see,” he says, “are peer-to-peer programs that are really starting to save a lot of officers.”
Keith, who served as Knoxville police chief from 1988 to to 2004, says the mental health of law enforcement officers “is really close to me.” He’s lost multiple relatives and colleagues to suicide, including his father, the first officer with whom he shared a police vehicle and the police chief he succeeded in 1988.
Keith says officers seek mental health counseling for many of the same challenges that other people face.
“Plus, they have a job that’s very demanding, and it’s probably more demanding today than it’s ever been in the history of our country,” he says. “There’s no officer that doesn’t want protections for the public. But they also want protections from themselves.”
Samantha Max is a Report for America corps member.
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