INDIANAPOLIS — The Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department's recently approved $338 million budget includes funding for mental health resources for officers and other staff.
Every day is different for a police officer. Some of the things they see, and do impacts their mental health, but they don't always talk about that.
That's why IMPD Chief Chris Bailey said a new app for officers was passed in the budget to give officers an anonymous outlet.
"There is no way to really, truly describe what officers experience on a daily basis," said former IMPD Sgt. Chris Wilburn.
After nearly 15 years with IMPD, Chris Wilburn medically retired.
"I wore the badge as if it were Superman sometimes, and I didn't want to acknowledge what I was experiencing, what I saw, how it made me feel, how it impacted me," he said.
He says he suffered with his feelings, and how to get help.
"These tools are available, but we don't take advantage of them, because we don't want to be judged right? We don't want people to think that we're weak or lesser," Wilburn said.
IMPD Chief Bailey doesn't want officers to be silent when they're struggling.
"It's okay not to be okay. We have to remove that stigma. This isn't the 1980s, 90s, or even the early 2000s where we want you to just man up and deal with the issue. We want you to talk about your issues," Bailey said.
The same company that helps officers heal from physical injuries will now help on the mental side through the Shield app.
It will soon be in the hands of officers and staff who can use it to check in, find resources, and schedule appointments.
"ProTeam Tactical Performance is the company, and the program is called Shield, and it allows officers to check in quarterly at a minimum, and it'll ask a series of questions, and then it's looking for things like sleeping disorders or anxiety or depression issues," said Bailey.
Tim Drudge, Director of Operations for ProTeam, said the app is more than speaking with someone.
"It's really to give them resources to evaluate themselves. How do I score on a depression scale? How do I score from a sleep standpoint? And it gives us some really objective feedback instantaneously to then determine whether they want to seek additional help or not," said Drudge.
IMPD will then track the anonymous data for training purposes.
"We want to save careers before I have to make decisions that in their employment, things and behavior that occur that may have been as a result of untreated trauma or other issues that lead to bad behavior if left untreated, whether it's drinking and driving or other issues," said Bailey.
"We don't know individual data, like I won't know if you check in if you're feeling depressed around Christmas time. I don't know that you're doing that, but it will give us some aggregate data. You know, a lot of your people are suffering from sleeping disorders, or there's a lot of people with anxiety or whatever that issue is, and then it allows us to tailor our resources training to help fill that, that need in our agency. And I think that's important as we try to find ways to retain the officers that we have," said Bailey.
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Chief Bailey said the idea came from the Indianapolis Fire Department.
"[They] have seen some significant success, including, you know, potentially heading off suicidal ideologies from some of the people in the fire service. And that is a win, even if it's one person that that is able to be saved," Bailey said.
Battalion Chief Rita Reith said IFD rolled out the app in March. Out of nearly 1,300 firefighters, around 50% have used the Sheild app — around 20% specifically for mental health.
"It has been so beneficial in helping our people go from 'I need a resource' to preventing something from escalating to what could be a life-threatening situation," said Reith.
Wilburn feels having an app like this could've possibly kept him on the force longer.
He says he hopes people will use it.
"Then maybe there, there will be marriages saved, lives saved, in terms of suicide, reduction of suicide rates against officers and have a healthier police force for our community when it comes to their mental health," Wilburn said. "I go to counseling still and I think that's important for people to know."
"You should never be embarrassed to seek help. You should never be embarrassed to ask for help. And the fact that you can do this anonymously is really, really great and beneficial to our people reaching out and getting that help. The fact that you can do it on an app on your phone, you can do it sitting in a car, you can do it when you're at home," said Reith.
"They're very easily understandable, and it provides resources specific to IMPD, or in the case of IFD, it provides IFD resources like their peer support team. Or in the case of IMPD, it's the wellness team," said Drudge.
As far as a timeline of when this will happen, Drudge said, "We're ready to roll out now."
The company behind the app says the goal is to get those who reach out for help an in-person appointment within 72 hours.
