By Jason Estrada
Iowa City police officers will now have a resource available if they experience emotional stress.
According to the website of the Trauma Center, a Massachusetts organization that seeks to ease the pain of trauma, police officers experience high stress frequently during work. Incidents such as shootings, violent crimes, and mass disasters are common stressors that may negatively affect an officer’s mental health, according to the group’s website.
The Iowa City police are implementing a peer-to-peer support program as a resource for officers when dealing with trauma. Police Officer Ashley Jay, one of the creators of the program, said the purpose is to offer backing for officers.
“Sometimes, officers simply need to speak to another officer, and that’s all they need,” she said. “Other times, they might need a little bit more, an officer who’s a little bit educated on what’s available to make suggestions.”
Jay said she has seen peer-support programs in other departments that are not work-related but offer help for other matters, including divorce. Divorce rates tend to be higher for police officers.
“There’s just all kinds of things that people go through that I think would be great for them to have someone to talk to, and they very well might,” she said.
Iowa City police officer Michael Harkrider, a co-creator of the program, said the idea of peer support came to him and Jay when they visited San Antonio for the Crisis Intervention Training program, which teaches officers how to deal with behavioral-health situations.
Harkrider said they thought it would be a great idea to have a support program in Iowa City.
“We don’t have an actual peer-support program in place yet,” he said. “It’s something we’re trying to get started and working through the various aspects of making sure it’s set up correctly.”
Both officers work with their police chief and the Des Moines police on sorting out the details regarding training dates and location.
Harkrider said the program will start soon, and both he and Jay believe it will have a positive effect on officers’ mental health.
UI Public Safety spokesperson Hayley Bruce said UI police officers have access to the UI Employee Assistant program, which offers confidential counseling.
“We do not currently have a peer-to-peer mentoring program similar to what [Iowa City] has been discussing but would be willing to learn more about it once the details are determined,” she said. “We are always reviewing procedures that could help enhance the safety of our officers.”