The Job Has Changed. Our Approach to Wellness Should Too.
Coming from a therapist, this may sound surprising: this article is not really about mental health. I have spent enough time around law enforcement to know that phrases like “mindfulness journey” or “finding your inner peace” can make people stop reading before the real conversation begins. That is understandable. Deputies do not need another slogan, poster, or reminder to practice self-care. They need support that understands the work and respects the culture. So this is a conversation about performance, judgment, recovery, leadership, and keeping experienced people healthy enough to remain in the profession.
In my work with first responders, I have sat with hundreds of law enforcement officers, fire fighters, dispatch, EMTs, doctors, and high performers who continue to show up and do their jobs well while carrying far more than most people realize. The concern is not that they cannot handle stress. They handle it every day. The concern is what happens when the stress continues to build and there is never enough time to recover from it.
It Is Rarely One Incident
A fatal collision. A child death. A suicide. A homicide. An officer-involved shooting. A gruesome scene. A call involving someone they know. An incident that stays with them longer than expected. Then the shift continues. There is another call waiting, a report to finish, court the next morning, or a family expecting them to walk through the door and immediately be present.
The nervous system is built to respond to danger. It narrows attention, speeds reaction time, mobilizes energy, and prepares the body to act. That response is useful in law enforcement. The problem begins when the body remains activated long after the immediate threat has passed.
California POST describes law enforcement as a “profession shaped by cumulative stress, irregular schedules, critical incidents, and public scrutiny.” When stress and fatigue go unmanaged, the effect reaches beyond individual health. It can show up in absenteeism, turnover, workers’ compensation claims, performance errors, and organizational liability. Most people do not reach a breaking point after a single call. It is the weight of the calls that came before it, combined with poor sleep, long hours, staffing shortages, family strain, and years of pushing through.
What the National Research Shows
A National Institute of Justice-sponsored study examined the health of 2,232 sworn officers selected from a nationally representative sample of 1,135 state and local law enforcement agencies.*
Just over two-thirds of the officers were placed in a generally healthy profile. One in four showed moderate health concerns, and nearly 6% fell into a broader, more serious health-concern profile. Greater exposure to critical incidents was associated with both the moderate- and higher-concern groups. The researchers identified post-traumatic stress, risky drinking, and suicidal thoughts as particular areas of concern.
This does not mean one in four officers has PTSD, nor does it mean that every stress reaction requires clinical treatment. It does show that significant health concerns are common enough that agencies cannot afford to treat them as rare or purely personal problems.
The local numbers make that point even clearer. For Placer County Sheriff’s Office, 29 deputies went out on leave for post-traumatic stress-related injuries between 2019 and 2025. Those are not abstract numbers. They represent trained and experienced deputies who reached a point where continuing to work was no longer possible.
The impact extends to the deputy’s health and family, but it does not end there. The agency also loses experience, absorbs overtime and staffing costs, manages workers’ compensation claims, and asks remaining personnel to cover the work. Waiting until someone can no longer perform the job is not a wellness strategy.
Cumulative Stress Does Not Always Look Dramatic
A deputy can be experiencing significant cumulative stress and still arrive on time, answer calls, make arrests, write reports, and appear to be functioning. The changes are often gradual. Sleep becomes inconsistent. Patience gets shorter. The person becomes more reactive or emotionally distant. They remain alert when there is no immediate threat. They may be exhausted but unable to relax. Concentration slips. Decisions take more effort. Small problems create larger reactions. Alcohol use may increase. Home can feel harder than work because there is no radio traffic, immediate task, or defined mission to focus on.
Sometimes a spouse notices first. Sometimes it is a beat partner or supervisor. Too often, the change is explained away:
“He’s always been like that.”
“She’s just burned out.”
“He has a bad attitude.”
“She needs to toughen up.”
By the time cumulative stress is recognized, the person may have been struggling for months or years. These reactions do not automatically mean someone has PTSD or needs intensive treatment. They may mean that a capable person has spent too much time activated and not enough time recovering.
That distinction matters. When normal occupational stress is treated as weakness, people hide it. When it is recognized as a predictable effect of repeated exposure, it can be addressed earlier.
Why Deputies Wait
Many deputies do not believe they need support because they are still functioning. Others worry about confidentiality, their reputation, or what asking for help could mean for their assignment or career. Some do not want to burden their families or coworkers. Some believe poor sleep, irritability, emotional distance, and exhaustion are simply part of the profession. Staying busy can also be a way to avoid noticing how much has accumulated.
Then there is the answer everyone has heard:
“I’m fine.”
And they aren’t wrong. They have become very good at functioning while depleted.
In its statewide Organizational Wellness Survey, California POST received 2,850 responses from agencies of different sizes and assignments, with at least one response from 57 of California’s 58 counties. Respondents consistently identified confidentiality, cultural competence, and leadership support as key factors in whether employees were willing to seek help. That finding matters because simply having resources is not enough.
Employees need to believe the provider understands law enforcement culture. They need clear information about confidentiality. They need to know that leadership supports the process and that asking for help will not quietly be used against them. A phone number posted in the break room will not create that kind of trust.
What Effective Support Looks Like
Historically, many agencies waited until behavior changed, performance declined, relationships deteriorated, or a major incident forced the issue. Support may have been available, but it was often introduced late.
California POST now describes organizational wellness as a “critical part of effective, ethical, and sustainable law enforcement operations. Its guidance connects wellness with decision-making, injury and absenteeism, recruitment, retention, workforce stability, and community trust.” POST also makes it clear that wellness is not the employee’s responsibility alone. Leadership, policy, supervision, staffing, training, and daily operations all shape how well employees recover.
Routine Wellness Visits
Routine wellness visits give deputies a confidential place to address the effects of the job before those effects become a crisis, a performance problem, or a reason to leave work.
The Law Enforcement Mental Health and Wellness Act directed the U.S. Department of Justice to examine the value of annual mental health visits, peer support, culturally informed services, and privacy protections for law enforcement personnel. The goal is to improve access to support and make wellness part of routine career maintenance rather than something offered only after an employee begins struggling.
A wellness visit should not be confused with therapy, a psychological screening, or a fitness-for-duty evaluation. The COPS Office recommends that these visits be clearly defined as nonevaluative, nondiagnostic, and educational. There should be no symptom checklist, no judgment about whether the deputy is fit for duty, and no report to the agency about what was discussed. When attendance documentation is required, the provider should confirm only that the visit occurred.
That distinction is essential. Deputies are far less likely to speak honestly if they believe the clinician is evaluating them for the department or that the conversation could affect their career. Confidentiality, including its legal limits, should be explained before the program begins and reviewed during the visit. Agency leadership does not need to know what was discussed, whether a deputy asked for a referral, or whether they chose to return for additional support.
The conversation itself can be straightforward and practical. A deputy may discuss disrupted sleep, irritability, family strain, a difficult call, increased alcohol use, trouble concentrating, or difficulty shifting out of work mode at home. The visit may include education about common occupational stress reactions, an opportunity to ask questions, a few strategies to try, and information about additional resources if the deputy wants them.
Routine visits also reduce the barrier to seeking help later. The first contact with a clinician should not have to occur after an officer-involved shooting, a family crisis, a disciplinary concern, or months of poor sleep. Regular contact allows deputies to become familiar with the provider, understand confidentiality, and decide whether that person understands the culture and can be trusted.
COPS Office guidance recommends culturally competent, licensed professionals who understand law enforcement work and whose primary role is support and intervention rather than employment assessment. A clinician may have strong qualifications and still be ineffective if deputies have to spend most of the visit explaining the profession or defending normal parts of the culture.
Routine wellness visits should also remain separate from critical-incident response. When visits occur only after a serious event, employees may associate the clinician with crisis, concern, or suspected impairment. Scheduling visits as a normal part of employment sends a different message: everyone is exposed to the demands of the work, everyone is given access to the same resource, and using that resource is part of maintaining long-term readiness. Done well, routine wellness visits can:
Normalize contact with a trusted professional
Address smaller concerns before they affect multiple areas of life
Help deputies understand occupational stress reactions
Identify when more structured support may be useful
Increase familiarity with agency and community resources
Reduce uncertainty and stigma around seeking help
Strengthen trust in the agency’s overall wellness program
The purpose is not to search for problems or force deputies into treatment. It is to provide a reliable point of contact before stress becomes harder to manage. By the time someone says, “I can’t do this anymore,” the agency has usually missed many earlier opportunities to help.
Leadership That Supports the Process
No wellness program can succeed if leadership quietly undermines it. Employees pay close attention to how supervisors talk about stress, confidentiality, and seeking support. They notice whether leaders participate in wellness efforts or expect everyone else to do it. They notice whether asking for help is treated as a responsible decision or as proof that someone cannot handle the job.
A supervisor’s role is to recognize when something has changed, address it early, and connect the employee with the right support. One change does not automatically mean someone is in crisis. Patterns matter. So does knowing the employee well enough to recognize when their behavior is different from their usual baseline.
Supervisors also need to know how to start the conversation. It does not have to be clinical or complicated.
“I’ve noticed you haven’t seemed like yourself lately.”
“You’ve had a lot of difficult calls recently. How are you doing?”
“I’ve noticed a change in your sleep, focus, or patience. Is there something going on that we should address before it gets worse?”
Early conversations matter. When changes are ignored, a wellness concern can become a performance problem, a disciplinary issue, a damaged relationship, or a reason someone leaves the profession. By the time behavior reaches that point, there were often earlier opportunities to intervene. California POST emphasizes that agency culture is weakened when written wellness policies do not match daily leadership behavior. An agency cannot say confidentiality matters while supervisors speculate about who is seeking help. It cannot promote wellness while rewarding excessive overtime, dismissing exhaustion, or treating recovery as weakness.
POST recommends integrating wellness into staffing decisions, scheduling, supervision, briefings, training, critical-incident response, and daily operations. Wellness cannot sit on the side of the organization as a separate program. It has to be reflected in how leaders make decisions and manage people. That also requires an honest look at organizational stress. Not all stress comes from traumatic calls. Chronic understaffing, forced overtime, poor communication, unclear expectations, inconsistent supervision, internal conflict, and a lack of control can keep employees activated long after a shift ends. A deputy may recover from a critical incident and still remain overwhelmed by an unhealthy work environment.
The strongest leaders create an environment where concerns can be addressed early, confidentiality is respected, and support is treated as part of professional readiness. When leaders model that standard consistently, employees are more likely to trust the program, use available resources, and remain healthy enough to keep doing the work.
Critical-Incident Support
After an officer-involved shooting, child death, suicide, homicide, serious collision, or death of a coworker, employees need more than a mass email reminding them that resources are available. The first hours after a critical incident are often focused on immediate needs: safety, medical care, notifications, interviews, reports, investigations, and getting personnel home. The nervous system may still be in a heightened state, and people may feel numb, scattered, unusually alert, exhausted, or unable to fully process what happened.
This is part of the acute stress phase. Reactions such as disrupted sleep, irritability, difficulty concentrating, intrusive memories, emotional numbness, and hypervigilance can be normal in the immediate aftermath of trauma. These early reactions do not automatically indicate PTSD or predict how someone will recover.
ICISF recommends matching the intervention to the timing and needs of the group. A brief defusing or individual support may be offered within hours of the incident. A formal Critical Incident Stress Debriefing is typically held after some time has passed, often within the first several days, rather than immediately at the scene. ICISF currently describes the usual CISD window as one to ten days following the incident.
The commonly referenced 24- to 72-hour period allows the initial shock and operational demands to begin settling. Personnel may have had an opportunity to sleep, complete required procedures, reconnect with family, and develop a clearer understanding of what occurred. They may also be better able to think, listen, and participate in a structured group discussion.
Support should begin as soon as it is needed and may include peer contact, practical assistance, accurate information, one-on-one crisis intervention, and reminders about common stress reactions. The formal group process comes later, when the team is psychologically and operationally ready. The purpose is to reduce confusion, normalize common reactions, identify anyone who may need additional support, and create a clear path for follow-up.
Recovery does not end when the debriefing is over. Stress reactions may emerge days or weeks later, particularly after the investigation, attention, and activity surrounding the incident have slowed down. Continued check-ins are often just as important as the initial response. Not everyone will need the same response. Some people want to talk immediately. Others need time. Some recover with support from their team and family. Others need more structured care.
The purpose is to make sure people understand what they may experience afterward and know where to go if those reactions do not settle.
Practical Education Builds Awareness
People are more likely to respond effectively to stress when they understand what their brain and body are doing. Without that knowledge, normal stress reactions can feel confusing or personal. A deputy who cannot sleep after a difficult call may assume they are losing control. Someone who feels detached at home may believe they no longer care about their family. Irritability, restlessness, emotional distance, intrusive images, or difficulty concentrating can be misread as weakness, attitude, or failure. Education gives those reactions context.
When deputies understand that repeated exposure can keep the nervous system alert long after a shift ends, they are better able to recognize changes early and use strategies that support recovery. They also become more likely to seek help before stress begins affecting judgment, relationships, alcohol use, attendance, or job performance.
Families benefit from the same information. A spouse who understands the transition from duty mode to home life may respond differently to withdrawal, silence, or irritability. Instead of assuming the behavior is personal, the family can recognize when the deputy may need time to decompress, support reconnecting, or additional help.
Supervisors also need practical education. They should be able to recognize the difference between a temporary stress reaction, a developing pattern, and a situation that requires immediate intervention. Early recognition gives leaders a chance to address concerns before they become disciplinary, relational, or safety issues. Education can be woven into academy instruction, roll-call briefings, supervisor meetings, peer support training, family workshops, and short wellness sessions. Repetition matters. A five-minute conversation delivered at the right time may be more useful than a full day of information delivered once.
The content should be specific to the realities of the job, such as:
How cumulative stress builds over time
Why sleep changes after critical incidents
How hypervigilance can follow them home
Why irritability and emotional distance develop
How alcohol can interfere with recovery and sleep
What healthy decompression can look like
When a reaction is lasting longer than expected
Where to go for confidential support
The goal is not to turn deputies or supervisors into clinicians. It is to give them enough knowledge to recognize what is happening, respond earlier, and make informed decisions about support. Good education removes some of the mystery. It replaces “What is wrong with me?” with “This reaction makes sense, and there are things I can do about it.”
The Resources Have to Work Together
Many agencies already have peer support teams, chaplains, EAP services, clinicians, fitness programs, and critical-incident procedures. The problem is often not a lack of resources. It is that the resources operate separately.
Employees may not know where to start, what is confidential, or which option fits their situation. Supervisors may not know when to make a referral. Peer support may be disconnected from clinical services. Clinicians may only be called after major incidents. A strong wellness program gives those resources a shared structure.
Employees understand what each service provides, where the boundaries are, and how to access the right level of support. Peer support, chaplaincy, clinical services, leadership, and critical-incident response remain distinct but connected.
POST identifies confidentiality as foundational to whether a wellness program is credible and used. Even the perception that participation could be connected to discipline or performance management can erode trust. Clear boundaries, consistent communication, and leadership behavior matter as much as the written policy. Trust is not established during one presentation or after one critical incident. It is built over time when an agency consistently does what it says it will do.
Protecting the People Who Do the Work
Law enforcement will remain demanding. Critical incidents, long shifts, public scrutiny, staffing challenges, and repeated exposure are not going away. Supporting employees does not make the profession softer, and it does not lower performance expectations. It helps people remain capable of meeting them. Twenty-nine Placer County deputies leaving work because of post-traumatic stress-related injuries is not a reason to question their resilience.
It is a reason to look closely at what happened before they reached that point and what might help the next deputy recover sooner. When deputies recover well, they think more clearly, communicate more effectively, make better decisions, remain connected to their families, and are more likely to stay in the profession. Healthy deputies make better decisions. Better decisions build stronger agencies. Stronger agencies create safer communities. That is operational readiness.
Written By: Shea Marie Phinney LMFT
SOURCES AND RESEARCH
Mumford, E. A., Liu, W., & Taylor, B. G. (2021). Profiles of U.S. Law Enforcement Officers’ Physical, Psychological, and Behavioral Health: Results From a Nationally Representative Survey of Officers. Police Quarterly, 24(3), 357–381
California Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training. (2026).
DOJ Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS), 2023
The Law Enforcement Mental Health and Wellness Act 2019
COPS Office Resource Center 2025
ICISF, references