As part of the First Responder Traumatic Incident Support and Response Task Force recommendations, the Phoenix Police Department hired a department psychologist in October 2016 (First Responder Traumatic Incident Support and Response Task Force, 2015). The psychologist’s role was to be available for employees and their families for walk-ins, respond to call out for critical and traumatic incidents, and lead department training on wellness topics. The Phoenix Police Department paid their psychologist the equivalent of a commander or assistant chief’s salary, including benefits, vehicle, and cell phone, which came out to over $200,000 annually. With approximately 4,000 employees (City of Phoenix Police Department, Police employment totals) and a number that jumps between 10,000 to 15,000 when you include families of employees, the Phoenix Police Department quickly found the department psychologist job was too big for one person. During the spring of 2017, the Department decided to switch from a single psychologist who was an employee of the Department to finding a behavioral health team who could be contracted.
The Phoenix Police Department contracted with Crisis Preparation and Recovery (CPR) in May 2018. Contracting with CPR allowed the Department to have access to a psychologist, three masters-level counselors, and two social workers for a fraction of the department’s cost to employ a psychologist. The Phoenix Police Department budgeted for $160,000 annually for the contract with CPR, but as of October 2020, the Department has not come close to this annual number (RFP 18-122 Law Enforcement Psychological Services, 2018). A new mental wellness policy for department employees through CPR will put the annual amount spent closer to the budget amount. This team would regularly work with the Phoenix Police Department, rotating office hours at EAU, and respond to call outs for critical and traumatic incidents and employees in need. If needed, CPR had more counselors and social workers available who could assist with large critical incidents or any other time required. As per the contract, CPR’s psychologist took over all psychological debriefings after an officer is involved in a shooting. This allowed for a consistent response as CPR personnel responded to all officer-involved shootings, and the CPR employee who responded to the shooting has the ability to share information from the officer’s reaction while on scene, if the psychologist was not the CPR employee who responded to the shooting (RFP 18-122 Law Enforcement Psychological Services, 2018).
CPR works with EAU to assist employees and their families with psychological services and provide Department-wide training. CPR has a psychologist or licensed mental health provider available for employees and their families to utilize for walk-in appointments six hours a day, four days a week, as these office hours are held at EAU. Walk-in appointments and call outs are meant to triage the employee or their family member, stabilize them and then connect them with further resources if needed. CPR also has a psychologist or licensed mental health provider available 24 hours a day and seven days a week. Like EAU, they respond to critical and traumatic incidents, employees in crisis or any other situation deemed necessary. CPR staff utilize the city’s EAP or the Traumatic Event Counseling Program/Officer Craig Tiger Act if an employee or their family needs counseling. CPR staff also create and lead department training, including at annual organization training (AOT), for recruits at the academy, and specific for each bureau when requested. CPR is the second prong in the Department’s three-pronged approach to employee wellness.
CPR provides statistics that take into account their client’s/department employees’ privacy. Like the EAU data, it’s important for the Department to use the CPR data to modify clinician office hours and use, as well as to develop relevant training that is focused on the needs of the specific work assignments throughout the department. The following charts show the employees’ use of CPR services (M. Margarinos, personal communication, October 23, 2020):
In January 2020, the Phoenix Police Department approved a recommendation to require personnel assigned to specialized units that are exposed to the highest amount of trauma, required to attend two mental health wellness checks per year (Mental health wellness checks memorandum, 2019). All probationary officers attend one mental health wellness check before completing probation. The mental health wellness checks for all non-probationary employees must be completed each year, or the employee would be removed from the specialty work assignment (Mental health wellness checks memorandum, 2019). The mental health wellness checks are performed by CPR clinicians, who were chosen explicitly by CPR for their experience working with law enforcement personnel and patients exposed to trauma. The mental health wellness checks were initially scheduled to take effect on April 1, 2020, but the start date was pushed back due to Covid-19. The new start date was pushed back to August 1, 2020. The program is currently three months in, and over half of those required to attend mental health wellness checks have completed their initial visit. The initial specialty unit assignments required to complete mental health wellness checks include the Employee Assistance Unit, Homicide Unit, Vehicular Crimes Unit, Night Detectives, Crimes Against Children Unit, Internet Crimes Against Children Unit, Crime Scene Response Unit, Special Assignment Unit, Fugitive Apprehension Investigations Detail, Canine Unit, Street Crimes Unit, and the Body-Worn Camera Detail. Recently, there have been many requests to include other details into the wellness check program. The Phoenix Police Department will require every sworn officer and many civilian work assignments to attend one mental health wellness check per year starting on January 1, 2022.
The mental health wellness checks were created with input from employees assigned to the affected specialty work units. Although there was some hesitation from employees required to attend the wellness checks when in group settings, the feedback from those who have attended has been entirely positive. The most significant challenges the Phoenix Police Department had to get over when implementing the wellness checks was establishing trust among employees that the information would stay confidential, everyone in those assignments had to complete the wellness checks, and the fear of the unknown. The only information reported back to the department reference the wellness checks is if the employee attended or not. CPR must follow the State of Arizona’s mandatory reporting laws, but this was explained to department employees several times prior to the wellness checks being implemented, so employees know what information is protected and what must be reported. Mandating that everyone assigned to the specific specialty units and all probationary officers prior to completing probation complete wellness checks became a benefit as well, as many employees said this reduced the stigma of the wellness checks because everyone had to attend. The Department has received nothing but positive feedback from employees who have completed their first mental health wellness check, as the employees now understand what the wellness check is and what it is not.