Brief Enhancing Law Enforcement Safety and Well-Being

Law enforcement officers are routinely expected to manage intense, stressful or delicate public safety situations. Repeated exposure to critical incidents can often lead to burnout or a decline in the mental health of impacted officers. Therefore, over the past several years, states have enacted legislation to enhance officer safety and well-being.

New laws include protections for officers both on-duty and off-duty. Trends have included peer counseling initiatives, mental health screenings and expanding other supports for officers, as well as enhanced penalties for crimes against officers.

In addition to protecting the safety and well-being of existing officers, these policies can act as a tool to increase the recruitment and retention of new cadets. Offering new benefits and making the role of a first responder less stressful can potentially attract job candidates to jurisdictions facing large-scale public sector workforce shortages.

Since NCSL began tracking these policies in the Legislative Responses For Policing Database, a majority of states have introduced legislation annually related to police officer safety and well-being. On average, around 20 states have enacted policy changes each year.

Expanded Mental Health Resources

Some legislatures have focused on access to—and protection from retaliation or stigma for using—mental health resources like professional counseling or peer support counseling. Delaware and Idaho, for example, enacted strict confidentiality requirements and prohibited the disclosure of an officer’s use of mental health supports without their consent.

Connecticut specifically prohibits certain actions against officers who seek care. Under the Connecticut law, no law enforcement unit is able to discharge, discipline, discriminate against or otherwise penalize a police officer who seeks or receives mental health care services. The purpose of these constraints is to provide protection from internal stigma or fear that taking advantage of support systems may negatively impact an officer’s status among coworkers, peers or superiors.

Arizona and Texas are among other states that have created new mental health counseling programs. Both states require data collection from the support programs on the number of law enforcement officers who received care, the average number of visits, evaluations of the efficacy of the services and other measures. The Texas law authorizes partnerships with colleges and universities to provide care and help develop peer support networks.

Kentucky enacted HB 207 in 2023, authorizing law enforcement agencies to create their own wellness programs to support the mental health and well-being of their employees. Authorized programs included early intervention systems, access to mental health counseling, crisis counseling, support systems, training, equipment and technology.

Post Traumatic Stress and Workers Compensation

Another strategy that has gained significant legislative interest is categorizing post-traumatic stress as a compensable occupational injury. At least four states have succeeded in adding post-traumatic stress injuries or disorders (PTSI/PTSD) as workers compensation claims. However, roughly 40 other pieces of similar legislation have been introduced and failed over the past several years.

Florida has been successful with this approach. In 2022, Florida passed HB 689 which defined workers compensation benefits for post-traumatic stress disorder. To qualify, the disorder must result from the officer acting within the course of their employment and must be diagnosed by a licensed psychiatrist.

Connecticut passed a similar bill which applies to a wide range of public employees. The Connecticut bill allows police officers, firefighters, emergency medical services personnel, Department of Corrections employees, health care providers and telecommunicators to claim workers compensation following a qualifying event.

Proactive Mental Health

Mental health resources, professional counseling, and workers compensation benefits aim to protect officers after they have experienced a traumatic event. However, there is also a growing movement to provide officers with access to care before a serious event happens.

In 2023, Illinois created a new statewide PTSD mental health coordinator, who is appointed by the governor to work with the state’s POST. Their goal is to prepare law enforcement officers for mental health challenges they may encounter, how to identify warning signs within themselves and other officers and establish continuing education standards to help them stay on top of it into the future.

Other states have pursued this idea, but without creating an entirely new position on their POST board. Instead, states have either created statutory standards for ongoing mental health training or have directed their POST board or state department of health to create those standards through their rulemaking process.

North Carolina has incorporated mental health standards into its certification process to become a law enforcement officer. In 2021, the North Carolina legislature enacted H 436 which requires psychological screenings of law enforcement officers prior to their certification or employment. The requirements also include education and training to develop knowledge and increase awareness of effective mental health and wellness strategies for criminal justice officers.

Both Maryland and Connecticut also mandate a mental health screening or behavioral health assessment after a period of two to five years as a requirement of continued employment as a law enforcement officer.

Conclusion

NCSL will continue tracking legislative interest in law enforcement safety and well-being measures during the 2024 legislative session. So far, there have been 46 new bills introduced which are similar to the state actions touched on in this article.