Police Department offers trauma and stress management support to cops!

Chester Williams

With all the crime and violence, cops need support, too – that’s what Commissioner Chester Williams echoed today.  He told the media that officers are exposed to violence everyday in their line of duty and although they are trained they still need support because the level of trauma affects everyone differently. He says that they are doing more to provide the emotional and psychological help that the law men and women need, including trauma and stress management. He shared how the department is helping officers cope with these everyday stressors.

Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police

“Yes, indeed many of our officers are under severe stress. And as a department we work in collaboration with the public service ministry through the employee assistance program, to be able to provide counselling for our officers when the needs arise. While for the most part we would hope that the officers would undertake these counselling voluntarily. If it is that we should see that the officers are manifesting behaviours that require them to undergo counselling and they do not volunteer. Then the police act to provide that the commissioner can command mandatory counselling for them. And we have done that in some cases to ensure that some officer undergo some hours of counselling. And they are not to return to work unless they go through those counselling hours. So we try to put in place mechanisms to help our officers to cope with counselling. Yes we know that it is not sufficient, there is more that could be desired. But for right now there is that will, there is that start and we just need to see how we can build on it to make it better.”