LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department was recently recognized by the Department of Justice for their work looking out for officers' mental health.
The department’s Police Employee Assistance Program (PEAP) is helping police employees get through tough calls on the job.
“Repeated traumatic effects really hurts officers, they have no time to recover,” says Annette Mullin, Director of Las Vegas Police’s Employee Assistance Program.
The program has been helping officers since 1984, and was created to lend a helping hand to officers who are involved in critical incidents and may be seriously impacted.
That impact can not only effect their day-to-day job, but their life at home with their families.
The department’s program was recently highlighted in a Department of Justice case study about mental health services for police employees.
Las Vegas Police was one of multiple police agencies across the country involved and detailed the success of their program.
PEAP uses trained professionals to provide trauma resiliency training, either for entire police squads or individual officers.
Annette says the biggest struggle is combating the negative stigma about asking for help.
“Our community is only as healthy as our officers, and our officers are only as healthy as their homes are so we believe each person is important, not only healthy and spiritually but the whole package.”
