Law enforcement officers face a higher risk of suicide than of being killed in the line of duty. To help address that issue, the Orange County Sheriff’s Office is partnering with a UCF College of Medicine leader recognized worldwide for her mental health advocacy.
Dr. Marcy Verduin, associate dean of students and professor of psychiatry, helped create Always Ready for the Road Ahead, a two-part mental health guidance program she is providing to all 3,000 sworn and civilian employees of the sheriff’s office.
“The employees of the Orange County Sheriff’s Office work in challenging environments, even risking their lives, in order to make our community safe,” Dr. Verduin says. “This is a way of giving back to them as a thank you for the incredible work they do and helping them be more prepared to face the challenges inherent in their day-to-day work.”
The initiative comes after the sheriff’s office reached out to Dr. Verduin about the recent suicide of a popular lieutenant who had shown no outward signs of deteriorating mental health, followed by a second apparent suicide that led to the murder arrest of the deputy’s estranged husband.
Participation in the program is mandatory and was even attended by Sheriff John Mina.
“We want to be proactive,” says Major Reginald Hosey, who leads human resources for the sheriff’s office and established the partnership. “We want to be at our best at home, in the field, as a friend, as a spouse, as a parent.”
How the Program Works
The Helping the Helpers program began when Dr. Verduin’s pastor, Rev. Keith Tower of HighPoint Church in Orlando, realized that during the COVID-19 pandemic, religious leaders were increasingly counseling members about depression, anxiety, stress and loneliness. In response, Tower helped organize the Every Nation Church Conference in 2021, which focused on addressing the emotional impact of the pandemic on clergy and their congregants.
Dr. Verduin spoke for two hours in front of 500 attendees. Following the conference’s success, groups worldwide invited Dr. Verduin and Tower to speak about mental health and reducing the stigma often associated with it. The sheriff’s office learned of the program and asked them to create a program tailored to law enforcement, which has now been ongoing for about six months.
Tower opens the first session with a dramatic story of his own reaction to stress, despite years of elite training. Before becoming a pastor and certified mental health counselor, the 7-foot Tower was a professional basketball player and backup to the famed Orlando Magic center Shaquille O’Neal. During Tower’s playing days in Orlando, the Magic had a promotion that every fan in the arena would receive a free Big Mac if the team scored 110 points.
Tower dramatically sets up the scenario as sheriff’s deputies, evidence technicians and 911 operators listen intently.
The Magic are blowing out the opposing team, so Tower goes in for Shaq. The Magic have 108 points with just seconds left in the game. An opponent fouls Tower. All he has to do is make two free throws, and the entire stadium wins Big Macs. He makes the first shot. The crowd goes wild. Fans are chanting, “Tower, Tower.” A woman screams, “Marry me, Tower!” He steps to the free-throw line, focusing on the tens of thousands of free throws he’s practiced and made during his high school, college and professional career.
He misses the shot. No free Big Macs. The crowd goes silent. The game is over.
“I have made so many free throws in my life, I could make them in my sleep,” he says. “But the environment changed, the scene changed, the consequences changed. And that changed everything.”
While the physical threats associated with law enforcement are evident, the psychological threats may be even greater. The two counselors call it “death by 1,000 cuts.”
Law enforcement officers respond to multiple calls each shift, with no idea what they’ll face. They see people at their worst times in life. They work with so many traumatized individuals that they deteriorate. The trauma experienced by others can impact those trying to help. And the personality traits that bring many people to law enforcement — an exaggerated sense of responsibility, perfectionism, the need for control, a high need for achievement — increase their risk for conditions such as depression, anxiety and PTSD.
“You can’t ask your pancreas to make more insulin if you are a diabetic, as much as you can’t say ‘don’t be depressed.’” Dr. Marcy Verduin
Dr. Verduin emphasizes that mental health ailments are not “just in your head,” a sign of weakness, laziness or a loss of religious faith. The brain is an organ just like the heart, kidneys and stomach, she says. All can become diseased. She shows the audience CAT scans of healthy brains compared to the brains of patients with depression. The differences are noticeable, even to those without medical training.D
She explains that just like diabetes, mental health conditions are caused by a combination of genetics and environment.
“You can’t ask your pancreas to make more insulin if you are a diabetic, as much as you can’t say ‘don’t be depressed,’” she explains.
The two present strategies for strengthening coping skills include establishing personal boundaries, practicing intentional gratitude and sharing experiences with others.
Start “ridiculously small,” with improving your mental and physical resilience, Dr. Verduin says. Say you’ll walk to the end of the block or the mailbox each day. Soon you’ll be walking more. During the sessions, sheriff’s employees engage in active learning, such as working with the person sitting next to them to choose three new strengthening strategies they will “try out” over the next 30 days and making a specific plan to check with each other during the next month about their progress.
The goal of the program, Dr. Verduin and Tower say, is to help law enforcement personnel recognize that mental and emotional health challenges arise when a person’s coping skills get overwhelmed and to prepare them with strategies for dealing with the realities of their jobs.
Sheriff Mina applauds their work.
“There is nothing more important to me than the physical and emotional well-being of our Orange County Sheriff’s Office family,” he says. “Through our partnership with the UCF School of Medicine, the Always Ready for the Road Ahead program has provided invaluable training and tools to our personnel so that they can be resilient and prepared, both personally and professionally.”