Bonney Lake police want to invest in officers’ mental health. Here’s the plan
Officers at the Bonney Lake Police Department have a new mental health resource on hand.
The Bonney Lake Police Department entered a contract agreement on Feb. 1 with a licensed independent clinical social worker to provide peer support training and mental health support services to officers.
The social worker is expected to help and train the department’s peer support team, which is comprised of about four officers, Chief Bryan Jeter said. The social worker is also expected to provide training on strategies such as dealing with traumatic stress.
“This gives us the ability to call her in for assistance,” Jeter said.
The contract will be ongoing and may be terminated at any point, according to the agreement. The social worker will be paid $150 per hour as the agency needs her, which will come from the city’s general fund. Jeter said she also contracts with the Fife, Puyallup and Lakewood police departments.
Jeter said officers are the city’s biggest resource. The department wants to ensure that they are investing in the officers’ mental health and well-being, which has been overlooked for many years, he said.
“The last couple of years there has been a focus on taking care of our officers,” Jeter said. “This was our attempt to try to make sure that we have resources for our officers.”
Jeter said although most city employees have access to employee assistance programs, it is not always catered toward employees who are officers or first responders.
Unlike officers, an average person does not witness homicides, child abuse situations or suicide, Jeter said. The trauma that first responders are exposed to on a daily basis may be tough for the general public to understand, he said.
“This is the first time that we have been able to find somebody that is local that specializes and is trained to work with the special circumstances of a first responder,” Jeter said.
This story was originally published February 6, 2022 at 5:00 AM.
