Friday, Nov. 19, 2021 | 12:45 p.m.
Catherine Cortez Masto
President Joe Biden on Thursday signed Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto’s COPS Counseling Act that will provide mental health support for law enforcement officers.
The Confidentiality Opportunities for Peer Support Counseling Act, a bipartisan bill that Cortez Masto, D-Nev., put forward with Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa, will ensure confidentiality to federal law enforcement officers who use peer counseling services, according to Cortez Masto’s office. The only exception is for admissions of criminal conduct or threats of serious physical harm.
The bill, introduced April 29, also encourages first responder agencies to adopt peer counseling programs by requiring the Department of Justice to make best practices available on its website and to provide a list of training programs for individuals to become peer support mentors, according to Cortez Masto’s office.
“Our law enforcement officers serve and sacrifice for our communities every day, and this law will help ensure they get the mental health support they need,” Cortez Masto said in a statement. “My husband was in federal law enforcement and I spent eight years working closely with our brave police officers as Nevada’s attorney general, so I know these men and women face extreme challenges and trauma on the job every day.”
Jennifer Benjamins, director the the Metro Police employee assistance program, said officers respond to traumatic events daily.
“In a single shift, an officer can respond to a domestic violence incident, a child death or being involved in an officer-involved shooting," she said. "Peer support gives the officers an outlet to discuss those difficult calls they may face during their stressful careers with those who have faced similar occurrences."
Benjamins said the program provides valuable resources to employees and family members.
“We know this career affects officers and those who are close to them,” Benjamins said. “Our goal is to keep our employees healthy not only physically, but also mentally. We want them to have long-lasting careers and be able to enjoy their retirement.”
