New program aims to give Minnesota's police officers better mental health support

MINNEAPOLIS — A new state program hopes to offer more mental health support to the men and women who keep us safe, a program organizers hope leads to healthier cops and better policing.

If you don't get enough sleep, how can you be effective? Those are the types of questions therapists around the state could soon be asking police officers seeking help for their mental health. This month, the Adler graduate school launched a program to train mental health professionals on the unique challenges police are facing.

"I didn't know that many police officers in our area work 16-hour shifts, they have an expectation of a 100-hour week. When you're doing that kind of stressful work, you gotta have a way to manage that," Adler President Solange Ribeiro said.

Funding for the training was passed by the legislature last session, in hopes of retaining and helping more officers.

"I know that Minneapolis right now, what are they at? They're down one-third of what they were after COVID. And that's just not sustainable," Minnesota Sen. Steve Cwodzinski, DFL-Eden Prairie, said. "When we're asking our first responders to work a second shift and to miss their kids' choir concert, that's tough."

The participants of the program come from all over the state. Once trained, they'll be added to a list given to every sheriff's office and police department.

More training courses will be held in March and May.