The Most Important Element: Officer Wellness

Are Departments Overlooking The Most Important Element?
By: Ken Dye

Police departments get new and updated equipment all the time. Budget line items for new cars, body cams, light bars… the list continues.

From time to time, these pieces of equipment need to be maintained. They need work on the brakes, tires and other activities to keep the car in service, and the same with the other items cops have been loaded with in the last several years. These are all pieces of equipment necessary to keep the officers as safe as possible and having the ability to respond to 911 calls and other non-emergency incidents.

Now… what does any department do to keep the most important and essential part of the department moving? Most do nothing.

Officers keep getting the brunt of the loudest voices and they all seem to be critical. Why couldn’t they do this? Why couldn’t they do that? How many times have so-called experts and “eggheads” opined on what the officer should have done? After the investigation these so-called experts are often wrong.

Does the constant barrage of negative coverage of an event weigh on the cops who answer the call? How can it not?

America seems to neglect the most vital part of the operation. That’s right: the cops. Do the cops need periodic “maintenance?”

After “shagging” radio calls for an extended period of time, let’s take a look at the impact on the individual officer. You know, the person who pulls together all the equipment provided. The cars, the body cams and all the other “stuff” that makes for a police unit on the street.

Departments must take the time and effort to insure the officers are properly reviewed for their physical and mental well-being.

A sharp first-line supervisor should be able to identify a cop who’s experiencing a mental/physical issue. First-line counseling may accomplish the mission. Perhaps a referral to a professional would be in order.

The conclusion being that the most important and necessary element to make the police unit whole, the officer, may need “maintenance”… It’s up to the command staff to make sure that happens.

Ken Dye is the author of five books about crime, cops and bad guys in the St. Louis area. He blogs under “Cops Perspective” and has over 20,000 followers. Ken served with the St. Louis County Police Department for 13 years and finished his LE career with the Illinois Criminal Justice Authority as the administrator for the statewide MEG’s and Narcotics Task Forces.