The new and improved Cop2Cop Peer Program
CHERIE CASTELLANO Cop2Cop
Numbers don’ t lie. So, let’ s look at some of the numbers that reflect the Cop2Cop and NJ State PBA partnership in 2017:
• 9,490 NJSPBA member Cop2Cop Peer Support calls( 11,863 total Cop2Cop Peer Support calls total).
• 3,382 NJSPBA members trained by Cop2Cop Peer Trainers in the QPR Be Your Brother’ s Keeper Course( 4,871 total officers trained in C2C QPR trainings total).
• 421 NJSPBA members served in Cop2Cop Critical Incident Stress Management Debriefings( 439 total officers served in C2C CISM Debriefings).
• 15 crisis calls with suicidal officers who were led to safety by Cop2Cop.
• 17 suicide calls, nine of whom were corrections officers. We know we need to do more together in 2018 to stop the losses.
What to expect in 2018. Cop2Cop is offering five services in 2018. Our program includes peer prevention, peer intervention and peer postvention to provide a continuum of care for officers in need. 1. Peer training: Resilience / QPR 2. Peer counseling: Telephone Peer Support Calls 3. Peer assessment and referral: Cop2Cop peers and clinicians use a database / network of providers to assess and refer for all of your needs statewide. Cop2Cop has partnered with the Police Chaplains of New Jersey and the NJ State PBA clergy to offer members statewide referrals to both behavioral healthcare providers and spiritual support by county in all 21 counties. 4. Peer support groups: Wounded officer group, Bottles & Badges information, military groups 5. Peer Crisis Debriefing CISM services after critical incidents
HEALTH & WELLNESS
The Top 10 Problems Reported by Cop2Cop Callers in 2017 # 1 – Depression # 2 – PTSD # 3 – Anxiety # 4 – Other( finances, work stress) # 5 – Marital / couples Issues # 6 – Substance abuse # 7 – Legal problems # 8 – Medical / somatic # 9 – Suicidal ideations # 10 – Family issues / parenting Resilience Program. Cop2Cop has partnered with training experts from the University of Pennsylvania, the New Jersey Attorney General Training Team and police leaders to pilot a resilience course for cops based on the successful work that UPenn has done with the military. The Cop2Cop Training Unit team and Chief Mc- Leer from the Middlesex County Prosecutor’ s Office worked together to identify high-risk staff, focus groups and multidisciplinary input and designed a pilot called“ Sustaining Strength: Cop2Cop Resilience Course.” The Monmouth County Prosecutor’ s Office also piloted this effort with our team on March 7, 2018.
Be Your Brother’ s Keeper. We also offer the Cop2Cop QPR“ Be your Brother’ s Keeper” Suicide Prevention Project. In 2009, Cop- 2Cop peers created a QPR for Cops version of this course designed with real data and risk factors related to internal affairs, marital issues and substance abuse. To date, we have trained more than 15,000 officers, with increases in three-way calls monthly that include a PBA delegate, the officer in need of service and one of our providers. d www. njcopsmagazine. com ■ MARCH 2018 79