Lawmakers in New Jersey are looking to spend $3 million to expand mental health services for law enforcement, the New Jersey Monitor reported March 28.
If passed, mental health providers treating law enforcement would apply to the state's Department of Human Services for grants to cover the cost of treating officers and their immediate family who are suicidal or in a mental health crisis.
A study conducted by Blue H.E.L.P. found that 104 first responders in New Jersey died by suicide since the study began in 2016. Another study conducted in 2020 by the University of Texas in Houston found that 12 percent of police officers at one large, urban department had lifelong mental illness and 26 percent said they had current mental health issues.
The cost of therapy is the main obstacle law enforcement is facing, William Sullivan, head of the New Jersey Policemen's Benevolent Association Local #105, told the publication.
"When you finally muster up enough courage to talk to a therapist, they tell you, 'Well, it's a $100 copay,' Mr. Sullivan said. "If I need to see them twice a week, now it's $800 a month, and you think in your head, 'Oh, I can't afford $800 a month,' and then you don't go."
While he supports the bill, he added that $3 million would most likely not be enough and he hopes language will be added to guarantee therapists are knowledgeable about the unique experiences faced by law enforcement.
"There's things that happen in prison that you can't really go home and talk to your family about because they won’t understand it, and you don't want to put them through it," Mr. Sullivan told the publication. "I got 17 years in, and so I've seen a lot. If I talk to some new therapist out of college about things I see in prison, they might think I'm insane and say, 'This guy needs to be committed.'"