Police Department Addresses Critical Turn of Events

Dezerie Phillips

When and if that officer does recover, he will be placed into counseling which is provided by the Employee Assistance Program. It’s a twenty-four hour service available to those within the Police Department who may need real help, or just to talk to someone. According to ACP Dezerie Phillips, supervisors play a critical role in identifying officers who may need an intervention.

ACP Dezerie Phillips, Regional Commander, Eastern Division North

“If you see an officer come to work and he doesn’t look or act or behave normal or the way you would think or expect, then you know something may be wrong. Immediately we would make contact with the persons or focal point in the Employee Assistance program and we get the ball rolling. We get the person enrolled in the counseling program. We have no idea what is discussed in these sessions because they are confidential, so I am not able to speak to you about the sessions, but I know we get feedback from the counselors. One you get enrolled in the program you stay within the program until the counselor is of the opinion that you pass certain levels that you are able to go back and cope with your everyday work. There are times when these officers don’t show up for their sessions, and that’s when we would hear from the counselors to say your officer had a session at two o’clock and they didn’t show up. We will go find him or her and take the person in for the session. I know that when the officer would complete whatever amount of sessions there is, all we would get is a letter to say this is to certify that the officer went through this counseling program and he has excelled in his mental state of mind. That’s basically what we would get. We would not know the depths of all the counseling that occurs.”