Annual Mental Health Evaluations for Texas Peace Officers
Files
Date
2020
Authors
Bias, Tobie
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Law Enforcement Management Institute of Texas (LEMIT)
Abstract
Description
Police officers have been extremely apprehensive to seek out help for issues that plague the profession, such as high suicide rates, high rates of domestic violence, and even high rates of substance abuse. This is a huge issue that affects all law enforcement offices as they, themselves, struggle with these problems or know of someone who is dealing with one or more of these troubles. The law enforcement community has done little in the way of preventive measures or even in the way of helping those that are found to be dealing with these thoughts and issues. The Texas Commission on Law Enforcement (TCOLE) should mandate that every certified peace officer in the state of Texas be evaluated annually by a mental health professional to aid in early detection of suicidal thoughts, substance abuse, and possibly family issues that may turn out violent. The idea being that early detection of these issues will prevent loss of officer lives, loss of officers due to substance abuse issues, and loss of officers falling afoul of the laws they are asked to uphold. TCOLE can make a great stride toward improving officers’ quality of lives and length of good careers by mandating these valuable evaluations.
Keywords
Police Psychology, Police--Mental Health