MILWAUKEE — As the Milwaukee Police Department (MPD) prepares to say a final goodbye to Jimmy Nowak, who died in an off-duty crash last week, we are hearing more about the role that the department's Wellness Team plays in offering support during times of grief and high stress.
Nowak is the fourth MPD officer since 2018 to die while assigned to MPD District 4 and is the former partner of fallen officer Peter Jerving, who died earlier this year.
"The members of this department always impress me by their determination to continue and do their job," said Assistant Chief Nicole Waldner.
Ahead of Nowak's funeral, Waldner is reminding the community of the humans who wear the uniforms we all recognize.
"We train our officers on resilience and how to be able to go to work and do your job and serve the community amid things that are going on, but the reality is, all the training in the world does not take away humanity," said Waldner.
Waldner helps lead the department's Wellness Team.
"We have psychologists and therapist, we also have a Chaplain, and we just created our own wellness peer network," said Waldner.
A network of support so that police can focus on doing their jobs while getting the mental health care they need.
In the past year, MPD has doubled the size of its peer support network, and it'd like to recruit more chaplains too.
"Our goal is to have a police chaplain assigned to each one of our districts," saidGeorge Papachristou, an MPD Chaplain. "We hear a lot about resiliency. Much of that is getting help to the officer as soon as possible to allow them to bounce back from whatever tragedy has beset them."
Beyond MPD's efforts to build resilience within, an outward ask of the community during these tough times.
"I just want them to see us as people. We're there to help them, we are there to serve them, but we're also just people," said Waldner, who also said a small gesture can go a long way. "Just saying thank you, or just taking a moment when you don't need us and you're not in crisis to say hi, that is wonderful. We are people too and we enjoy the interaction."
Officers can text BLUE to 741-741 to be connected to. crisis text line and anyone can call 9-8-8 to be connected with local and confidential mental health support.
Another resource is a 24/7 peer-to-peer hotline set up by the Milwaukee-based non-profit Police Officer Support Team, INC. (POST). They can be reacehd at 414-352-5125
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