Peer support, family resources and suicide prevention are not things normally associated with police officers, but they are just as big a part of their training as crime fighting. In mid-November, the Isle of Palms Police Department (IOPPD) was awarded $90,036 in federal funding from the Law Enforcement Mental Health and Wellness Act to further enhance officer wellness and mental health.
“It has been a goal for my agency to rethink how we promote wellness,” said IOP Police Chief Kevin Cornett. “We want to take a 360-degree wellness approach, focusing on mental health and all the factors that can cause issues in this profession.”
To this end, IOPPD will split the funding between three project areas, which in order, include:
- Purchasing a Lexipol Cordico Wellness app for first responders, which all employees and family members can use to address all as pects of first
responder wellness. - Partnering with Columbia College to certify IOPPD as the first trauma- informed law enforcement agency in the state of South Carolina.
- Training all of South Carolina’s law enforcement officers with better tools and methods to deal with trauma. The goal is to host a free symposium, bringing top mental health and wellness experts together with law enforcement from across the state. Officers need this important information without worrying about cost or added expenses to agencies’ budgets.
“This kind of training is vital and mandatory,” said Dr. Elaine Chavez
Swain, associate professor of Trauma- Informed Education at Columbia College. “As a police officer’s wife of 27 years and a licensed social worker for just as many years, I believe in what we are doing at the institute to create safer communities for first responders and their families, both at home and at work. I also believe police officers need the extra support.”
Swain added that once the IOP partnership with Columbia College is fully implemented, she hopes all of the state’s police agencies will follow its lead and become certified as trauma- informed organizations. “Together, we can focus on empowering safety, collaboration and humility for those they serve and the police communities,” Swain said.
The city did not have to provide any assistance toward a financial match. The grant will be valid until Sept. 30, 2026.
“We want our officers to be stronger and healthier, not just physically, but mentally,” Cornett said. “I believe a healthy and trained officer will make the communities they serve safer and more connected.”
By L. C. Leach III
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