LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — The mental health and wellness of police officers and firefighters in Nevada will be the focus of a new task force that Nevada lawmakers are considering creating.
The Blue Ribbon Task Force on Peace Officer Wellness would work over the next two years to review state policy and make recommendations on personal wellness initiatives for state and local agencies.
So how can this task force be implemented? Find out here
The task force is the subject of Assembly Bill 433, which will be amended to include firefighters. The idea came after the interim Assembly Government Affairs Committee heard testimony about post-traumatic stress disorder and other mental and emotional issues faced by first responders.
The task force aims to recommend common standards for state and local governments in Nevada to follow.
The bill got the support of the cities of Henderson, Reno and Las Vegas, as well as representatives of the Las Vegas Police Protective Association, the Nevada Police Union and Professional Firefighters of Nevada.
"Behind the uniform, behind the badge, are human beings, people who carry the weight of every tragedy they respond to," said Ryan Beaman, a longtime Clark County firefighter and lobbyist for the Professional Firefighters organization. "People who wake up every day not knowing the danger they face, who often carry the emotional scars long after the sirens stop."
A task force would dovetail with efforts by the Las Vegas Metro Police Department to place more emphasis on officer wellness, which has been a specific emphasis of Sheriff Kevin McMahill since he was elected in 2022. A new wellness bureau offers police employees a way to deal with the stresses of the job.
You can learn more about the LVMPD Wellness Bureau here
The head of that bureau, Dr. James Tenney, told the Assembly Government Affairs Committee on Monday that the job of a police officer comes with more stress than other professions.
"Just as a general comment I believe the question has been answered, compared to the rest of us, police officers encounter a significantly higher degree of PTSD, depression, anxiety, family disturbance and suicide," Tenney said.
And John Abel, a lobbyist for the Police Protective Association, told the committee that 2024 was the first year in several years that Metro didn't lose an officer to suicide, something he attributed to McMahill, Tenney and the work of the wellness bureau.
Former Metro Police Lt. Randy Sutton, a 34-year veteran of police work, said he thinks the task force could help promulgate some useful best practices, which could save officers' lives.
"Believe me, you see, as a cop, you see every negative aspect of the human experience," said Sutton, who now helps officers nationwide through his group The Wounded Blue. "You deal with heartbreak, you deal with crime, you deal with the worst that humanity has to offer. And it can affect your soul."
Added Sutton: "So is there an issue? You're damn right there's an issue. There's a national issue. A state like Nevada takes this on and really looks at the problem and tries to develop some best practices, it's very welcomed within the law-enforcement community and the first responder community."
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