Arlington Texas Police Department
Approach
After teaching one-hour workshops infrequently, APD leadership saw the value and the need for us to come in on a more regular basis. During summer 2022, The Mindful Project taught six cohorts of up to 20 participants a half-day Mindfulness for Job-Related Stress and Trauma training.
Now, we’re contracted with APD for the next two years for the longer 8-week course, running two cohorts per quarter. The course is open for everyone from sworn-in officers to call takers, admin to support staff. We have partnered with University of Texas at Arlington to begin to collect biometric data around the course.
Our curriculum is approved for continuing education hours for Arlington officers through TECOL, the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement.
Challenge
Arlington Police Department in the DFW area of Texas is a pioneer in officer health and wellness, and they are creating a blueprint of the possibilities of officer wellness in any United States first responder agency.
The pandemic coupled with news media has made the last few years especially challenging for law enforcement. Add the daily traumas and stressors of the job, and many are hitting their breaking point. While this issue is much bigger than what mindfulness can solve alone, it is a vital component and a piece of the healing puzzle.
Results
The results continue to be overwhelmingly positive. We survey every person coming in and out of the training and continue to collect real time suggestions of how to make the curriculum more relatable and more potent.
Registration for the trainings is not mandatory and continues to remain optional. Through word-of-mouth and internal media, the cohorts have been robust.
By the end of 2023 we will have biometric data collected from UTA.
If you are with a first responder agency and would like to request to see our survey results from summer 2022, email us here.