Currently, the Eugene Police Department does not have a concrete written policy about officer mental health. However, the Law Enforcement Mental Health and Wellness subcommittee is putting in time to create one.
“The eyes of the entire country are on Eugene,” Jensina Hawk, police commission chair, said. “We are known for being progressive in thinking when it comes to dealing with things like this.”
Two years ago, the mental health and wellness subcommittee was born after Hawk voiced her hopes to set milestones for the department as they worked to create a policy having to do with police mental health generally and following critical incidents that are currently undefined.
She posed a question to the Police Commission and City Council: “What does success look like? How do we know if we’re 50%, 60% or 0% done with this?”
Hawk was then given the responsibility of running the subcommittee. Later, this position was turned over to Jack Radey who was appointed to the police commission in July after two previous denials.
Typically, the city of Eugene grants six months of working time to a committee. Hawk’s was permitted to meet for two years. The committee now has six months left.
The subcommittee has been working to set standard practices for and relating to officer mental wellness. As for now, the tools for EPD officers are limited.
“There are in fact policies and they are, I suspect, carried out when an officer is observed to be having problems,” Radey said. A supervisor who sees these problems by having daily interactions may recommend the officer to get help.
“In extreme cases where the chief is convinced that someone is in trouble, he can order that person ‘you need to go see a mental health professional and don’t come back until you have.’ This is used sparingly, I believe,” Radey said.
Additionally, Radey said 10% of EPD officers are trained peer counselors. A supervisor can recommend an officer to talk to one of the counselors.
Radey said the police department wants a full-time in-house mental health professional, but the subcommittee is considering potential issues with that motion.
“It’s 300 people in the department, it’s a small family, everybody knows everything. You walk down the hall and talk to Dr. Jones, the word slide would spread,” Radey said.
Radey said officers may be hesitant to speak to someone who also works for the department out of fear the counselor may share information with someone in power. Though legally a counselor cannot share what is said in a session unless it has to do with “imminent danger to themselves or others where breaking therapist confidentiality would be necessary to stop the danger,” the concern is still present for some.
“There have been areas where we haven’t made much headway because of an unclear division of responsibility,” Hawk said. “Obviously the chief has the final say so.”
The subcommittee also acknowledged that the human resource department, which is run by the City of Eugene, may have jurisdiction over officer mental health. Hawk said she wonders how the rights of the police union may play into creating mental health standards.
“What we need is to find a way to support our officers so they stay functioning well and so they are well and sane and as happy in their careers as they can be,” Radey said. “In a perfect world, I would find online a department roughly our size who has a policy that just seems brilliant and we would adopt it,” he said. “I am 77 years old and I have never lived in a perfect world.”
Radey said he hopes to find a model the subcommittee can take inspiration from.
“I doubt we can get the work done in six months honestly speaking, but we can certainly make a good cut at it,” he said.
He said he believes the subcommittee, the union and police department leadership are all in agreement about steps needing to be taken to support Eugene officers’ mental health.
*Jensina Hawk, Jack Radey, nor other members of the subcommittee speak on behalf of the Eugene Police Department
