Alaska’s public safety departments are working to better deal with police stress, after a recent change in state law and as mental health and wellness discussions become more common among employers in the state through width.
At the Anchorage Police Department, managers of its peer support program hope that clearer rules on confidentiality during support, part of the recently passed Senate Bill 103, will help more officers to take advantage of mental health services.
There is a small room on the sixth floor of the department headquarters with a dark blue lamp, some round lounge chairs and a soft carpet. The sound of rain played in the background.
There’s usually a mix of sweet and sour candies, meant to engage the five senses of sight, smell, touch, taste and sound, said Sgt. Matthew Hall, the police department’s peer support program coordinator and an 11-year veteran.
“What these chambers do is focus on each of those senses individually to balance each one out,” Hall said. “So when you leave the room, or when you’re done using all those senses, every part of your body is frozen, and it’s almost like hitting a reset button.”
Focus on a few more as well as a series of deep breathing exercises, Hall said.
“Vestibular is the type of measurement that we have, the measurement of the inner ear,” Hall said. “Proprioception is kind of your spatial awareness, or how much force you need to use, say, to pick up a pen on the table. And then your perception, that’s kind of your internal perception, like , ‘Am I hungry? Am I thirsty?’”
Much of Hall’s work involves helping officers deal with critical incidents. Those are the types of calls that involve serious injuries or deaths resulting from motor vehicle accidents, suicides or when officers use deadly force.
“Officers will go to more than 200 critical incidents throughout their career, which is a lot for anyone to go through,” Hall said.
The Anchorage Police Department launched its peer support program in late 2020, which coincides with a broader national conversation about mental health, Hall said.
“If we look at society as a whole, right now, mental health has seen a huge increase in the last few years,” he said. “Before, there was this kind of stigma around mental health, law enforcement and law enforcement, but the need is there.”
When officers are faced with traumatic events that could be fatal, Hall’s team consults with the officer to find the best way to deal with the stress. Sometimes this involves what is called “stress simulation,” with peer group members acting as moderators.
“What it looks like, if we decide to hold one of those, is that it’s like talking about team stress,” Hall said. “We don’t need to talk about phone tricks or things that are happening. We talk a lot about our feelings that we had to call. ”
Hall said he’s hopeful that a new law passed by the state Legislature earlier this year will encourage more officers and non-sworn employees, such as salespeople and recorders, to use the services. of peer support. Senate Bill 103 establishes clear privacy rules for peer support sessions.
State Sen. Forest Dunbar, a Democrat from East Anchorage, sponsored the bill, after hearing input from law enforcement agencies and their unions.
“The problem was that we were worried that people wouldn’t fully talk to them or they wouldn’t use the program if they knew that those programs would be, you know, called , or the privacy wasn’t there the way it would be for, say, a pastor or a medical provider,” Dunbar said.
The law includes exceptions to confidentiality rules, such as if an officer admits to a crime during a meeting.
Hall said he also wants officers to have a better relationship with the community. Members of the public have expressed grief and anger at the department in recent months, with seven police shootings since May resulting in four deaths.
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“There’s not one officer that I’ve talked to that wants to go to that type of call, those calls where we’re going to have to use a lot of force, or maybe even lethal force at times,” Hall said. . “Overall, they always affect us as officers and the general public, as we are all affected by these events.”
Whether they participate in stress counseling or use one of the hearing rooms, Hall hopes that, as officers continue to take advantage of peer support services, the benefits will come. spread through word of mouth and improve mental health in the field. .
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