SALT LAKE CITY — Salt Lake City on Monday announced a program that provides counseling for police officers, including fellow officers, has been suspended.
“Our employee wellness and support program,” said Salt Lake City police spokesman Brent Weisberg, “Is – for the time being – suspended as the Salt Lake City Police Department conducts a review into a specific matter."
“At this point, I can't go into specific details of that, he said.
Weisberg declined to say whether the “specific matter” was a personnel or policy issue.
However, FOX 13 later in the day confirmed that at least some of the personnel who managed the wellness program had been placed on administrative leave, though the station did not learn why.
Weisberg, who did not respond to questions about the employees placed on leave, emphasized that mental health resources are still available to officers through other programs within city government, including one also available to firefighters and 911 dispatchers.
The suspended program, however, was tailored to the unique stress police can face. While professional therapists were available, a big component was counseling from fellow officers who had undergone special training.
“It’s a really hard road to take to talk to a therapist for the first time,” said Jalaine Hawkes, president of Utah Women in Law Enforcement. “Peer support, in a lot of ways, is a really good first step to kind of build trust and build understanding with people that it’s OK and it actually should be a positive thing to talk about their problems.”
She emphasized she did not know what had occurred at Salt Lake City and was speaking only in general.
The Salt Lake City police wellness program, particularly the peer support, was around years before the mental health of first responders became a national topic. Officers within the program have worked with law enforcement in other cities to explain how to implement the counseling.
The Capitol City Lodge of the Fraternal Order of Police, in a statement to FOX 13 News, focused on the loss of peer support.
“We as the Fraternal Order of Police Capitol City Lodge are concerned with the suspension of the Salt Lake City Police Department’s Peer Support Program,” said a statement issued by lodge President Kevin Murray.
“We as officers seek to fill our ranks in the police department with those who have integrity and execute our duties, with ethical and moral decisions; When allegations are made, the Capitol City Lodge supports a thorough investigation to either unfound the allegation, or to correct a mistake being made.
“While we support justice, we recognize there is a domino effect that affects members of our lodge, and on a grander scale the police department. The FOP has a proud tradition of providing officer wellness resources to officers in the State. The Capitol City Lodge has offered these resources to SLCPD while the Peer Support Program is being evaluated.”
