IACP@Work: Law Enforcement Family Wellness in Times of Challenge

Officer safety and wellness profoundly impact officers’ ability to engage positively with their communities, families, and support systems. When officers are safe and well, and their personal and familial relationships are thriving, they become more effective at their jobs, which benefits the agencies and the communities they serve.

While great strides have been made in the past decade in supporting officer safety and wellness, the well-being of law enforcement families has not received as much attention until recently. The term “family” refers to the officer’s support system, which may encompass a partner and children, but may also include parents, siblings, and friends; it is anyone who the officer relies on for support in their personal lives.

The Department of Justice, Office of Community Oriented Policing Services’ (COPS Office) Law Enforcement Mental Health and Wellness Act (LEMHWA): Report to Congress notes, “When law enforcement officers are asked about the major stressors in their lives, family worries are always near the top of the list.”1

Law enforcement officers often face recurring stressors in their work that can affect their relationships with family members. A 2021 FBI article cited divorce rates in law enforcement as high as 70 percent, which is significantly higher than the U.S. national average.2 It is essential to understand the impact of the nature of law enforcement work on families. For example, every time an officer leaves for work, their family members know the potential risks they face and hope for their safe return at the end of their shift. This concern is amplified during a critical incident, when a law enforcement family may not have any direct contact with their officer and is limited to news reports for information. Line-of-duty deaths are a reality that law enforcement families must be prepared for. After these tragedies, family members need ongoing support as they work through their grief and manage their loved one’s affairs.

It is also critical to recognize the key role law enforcement support systems play in their officers’ wellness. Family members are often the first to recognize when their officer exhibits a behavior change, signaling a possible struggle with mental health. It is vital to provide families with the tools they need to help recognize what their loved one is experiencing, talk with them about it, and encourage them to get help. This front-row seat makes families the first line of support for law enforcement personnel outside the agency.

Programs that support law enforcement families can reduce officer stress by easing conflicts between officers’ work and family lives. Families may not fully understand the job’s unique demands and its effect on their loved one’s physical and mental health. Even if family members do understand, they may not know what can be done to support them, how to communicate with them, and what resources are available to assist them. This can be compounded by an officer’s inclination not to bring their work home or cause their family additional stress by sharing details of what they are going through. The COPS Office’s Law Enforcement Mental Health and Wellness Act (LEMHWA): Report to Congress summarizes the challenge best:

Law enforcement personnel know their families fear for them on the job, and that can make it hard for them to fully share their experiences with their families in ways that might benefit their own mental wellness. The 24/7 nature of the job, shift work, exposure to traumas that they wish to protect their own loved ones from—all of these things can make it hard for law enforcement families to understand and support their officers.3

Family wellness programs provide resources, tools, and support to help officers and families navigate the unique challenges inherent in this profession together. In addition, these programs can provide an officer’s support system with a much-needed sense of community. Law enforcement agencies are increasingly recognizing the needs of their personnel’s families, as more and more agencies are starting to expand the scope of their comprehensive wellness programs to integrate family as a key component.

Since its inception in 2019, the IACP’s Family Support Training and Technical Assistance (TTA) Program, funded by and in partnership with the Motorola Solutions Foundation, has worked with 19 law enforcement agencies to develop their family support and wellness programs. Agencies receive individualized, hands-on TTA from family wellness subject matter experts, including a review of plans for the department’s family wellness program and insights on ways to enhance family support efforts. Through this work, the IACP has helped agencies identify achievable goals, challenges, strategies, and opportunities for growth in the family wellness space. One agency implemented an orientation to inform recruits’ families about the department, the wellness program, and the available resources. Such a strategy encourages a sense of connection between the support system and the agency and gives family members a better understanding of their officer’s new career. Another agency facilitated an educational session on health care and retirement plans, providing valuable information and encouraging officers and families to select the best plan for their needs. More information and examples of family engagement strategies can be found in the Family Support TTA Program’s latest resource, If You Build It, Will They Come? Creating Wellness Opportunities to Engage, Inform, and Support Law Enforcement Families.

Family wellness needs to be a part of the conversation for every law enforcement agency, with added emphasis on developing resources and communicating with families to help them better support their officers. This approach ultimately benefits not only families but also officers, agencies, and communities.

Notes:

1Deborah L. Spence et al., Law Enforcement Mental Health and Wellness Act: Report to Congress (Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Justice, 2019), 13.

2John Wetherington, “Officer Wellness Spotlight: The Law Enforcement Family,” FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin, February 11, 2021; Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics, “Marriage and Divorce,” FastStats, updated April 24, 2023.

3Community Oriented Policing Services, “Law Enforcement Mental Health and Wellness (LEMHWA) Program Resources.”