By HANNAH EDELMAN, The News Journal
NEW CASTLE, Del. (AP) — A class of officers-in-training at the New Castle County Police Department knelt on mats laid out on the gym floor early one morning.
“Focus on your breath,” Jennifer Boileau instructed.
The morning yoga lesson was part of a new federal grant-funded holistic wellness program for officers that aims to address the mental health needs of those serving on the force.
“Officers experience tremendous levels of stress … every day,” said Boileau, a trauma-informed yoga instructor. “Continuous stress wreaks havoc on the body. It affects the brain. Affects the nervous system. And it affects your overall sense of well-being.”
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A 2020 study published in the National Library of Medicine found that 26% of police officers experienced mental health symptoms, compared to 21% of the general population that year.
However, mental illness often comes with a lot of stigma, especially on the police force. Sergeant Eugene Reid said he hopes this program will change that.
“We realize that by providing resources … we can better serve the citizens of New Castle County,” Reid said.
These resources are available “from hire to retirement,” Reid said. Officers-in-training, active and retired officers, paramedics and 911 dispatchers, as well as their families, now have access to personal trainers, financial advisors and, of course, trauma-informed yoga sessions with Boileau.
Before the introduction of the holistic officer wellness program, Reid said officers only had access to certified counselors through the department’s employee assistance program.
Now, Boileau said he has already seen the benefits of these expanded resources in action. Officers-in-training have gotten to their “high-stress incident” lessons, but practicing yoga and meditation has “allowed them to feel a much deeper sense of peace and get back to that baseline of feeling calm and ready.” for the rest of your day.”
Applying these calming techniques in the field can also help officers respond to mental health crises, which are an area of growing concern across the country. Proposed legislation in the US Senate to train police in de-escalation tactics also seeks to address the problem.
The New Castle County Police Department said it plans to expand the holistic officer wellness program to officers-in-training at other facilities when it has the resources, potentially in the form of more government grants, to do so.
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