LANSING, Mich. — The East Lansing Police Department launched new initiatives to support the mental health and well-being of its officers, employees, retirees and their families, WILX reported.
One key initiative is the introduction of Cordico, a confidential wellness app that provides users with access to mental health resources, physical health guidance, sleep advice and more, according to the report. The app allows employees to seek help anonymously, with the department only able to track overall usage, not individual users.
“Statistically, sworn officers have a higher rate of substance abuse, divorce, suicide,” said East Lansing Interim Police Chief Jennifer Brown. “Our officers see things on a daily basis, from responding to accidents to taking calls where we have many types of victims, and that’s hard to see those types of things.”
In addition to current officers, the department is extending wellness resources to retirees and employees’ families, recognizing that job-related stress often affects home life, according to the report.
“A healthy department is a stronger department, and that benefits everyone — the officers, their families and the community,” says Bristol PD Chief Kevin Lynch
“It’s not just ‘it stays here at the job’, right? This transfers to people at home and the divorce rate is so high so if we can help people outside of work to in aiding those things I think we are going to be a better, happier group of people and more successful too,” said East Lansing Police Social Worker Taylor Knickerbocker.
To further support staff, the department has also introduced a therapy dog named Silas, who has already made a positive impact in the office by boosting morale, according to the report.
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