Cops to get counseling help if needed

by JILL MAHON

Enterprsie reporter

Counseling services may soon be made available to the Wellington Police Department's six full-time and nine part-time officers with the goal of keeping them healthy in both their personal and professional lives.

Police chief Steve Rollins said calls officers responded to in the past could have necessitated the use of such services and he wants to make sure the opportunity is there for them in the future.

"We didn't have a program in place and I just thought we should at this point because you never know what might happen," he said.

Rollins enlisted local psychologist Dr. Santamaria to inform village council about such procedures and how they positively affect officers who have been involved in traumatic incidents.

Santamaria, who has been a police department psychologist since the late 1970s and a psychologist with the SWAT team for 10 years, described the serious health problems compounding fromstressful shifts, long hours and dangerous situations.

Officers who show no immediate signs of anxiety are likely to experience post-traumatic stresses much later down the road. Shootings resulting in injury or death can be the most traumatic situations of all, he said, and small towns with small departments are no exception.

"Even in small communities you have problems that are very, very stressful," Santamaria said.

Officer training allowed Santamaria to connect with police officers and understand the "closed culture" that often keeps them from feeling comfortable speaking with counselors. While facilities like the Nord Center are capable of providing assistance in traumatic events, it is where officers often take their clients. Therefore, he said, they may respect such a place, but don't feel comfortable going there with their own problems.

"If there is a shooting or violence of some nature, you want the officer to talk to someone," he said. "With the stress that police officers live under they need an outlet; someone they feel safe with who has a sensitivity to police work."

Concrete plans for the program have yet to be made, but per Santamaria's suggestions it should be cost effective, convenient and confidential to be completely effective.