“It will catch up to you,” police share importance of officer mental health

By Dillon Valencia

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    DIXON, Illinois (WREX) — With May marking Mental Health Awareness Month, Dixon Police has implemented new programs across the last five years to support their officers’ mental health. In April 2024, they also brought a new therapy dog onto the force to support officers after difficult calls.

“You’re going to see blood, you’re going to smell things that you’ll remember later,” said Ryan Bivins, the Detective Sergeant for Dixon Police Department.

“You’re going to hear things, or you may not hear anything, depending on what your focus is on… but the sights, the smells, are saying stay with you.”

Dixon Police has invested into Peer Support groups, which started in 2018, where first responders meet at least once a month or when a critical event happens, to brief and help each other with topics that are difficult to talk about.

“I do want the officers out there to know that it is okay to not be okay,” said Matt Coffey, a Patrol Officer with Dixon, who has worked in the position for five years.

“[With] time on the job, it’ll eventually it’ll catch up to you.”

Dixon Police also recently invested in First Responder Resiliency Programs, which incorporates required therapy sessions and partnerships with the City Administration and Fire Chief to ensure officer longevity.

A more recent measure includes the addition of a new therapy dog, Indy, who is set to join officers and victims at difficult crime scenes.

“We’re using her for the officers and for their traumatic incidents with victims of crimes,” said Ryan Mcwethy, a School Resource Officer, with Dixon Police.

“We can bring Indy in and she can be with the officers. I can talk to the officers and just kind of try and get their mind off of it and start that healing.”

Bivins, who as a Detective Sergeant, often responds to the most gruesome crime scenes to begin investigations.

“We had a call in 2017 of a murder suicide involving a child,” said Bivins.

“I had a son the same age as that child. I was with the team that responded. That call really almost changed my career path, I thought about getting out, it just impacted me in a way that I really didn’t see coming.”

Because of the close connection in age of one of the victims to his son, Bivins began to develop mental health symptoms including PTSD and depression. Playing a pivotal role in bringing change, Bivins helped create the First Responder Resiliency Program that allows officers to receive the mental help assistance they are seeking.

“People think we have a gun and badge and we’re the superheroes. Well, we’re just like everybody else… we feel… we have emotions,” said Bivins.

Coffey, who has worked with the department for 5 years, is the first on scene to everything from routine stops, to homicide calls. He recently responded to a death call, involving a person who had been deceased for multiple days. This call, was the call that impacted him the most.

“Her daughter called us and said that she hadn’t heard from her mom for about a week,” said Coffey.

“What really gets me is the smell is just not good, I immediately knew that we had a deceased person inside of the house.”

The Dixon Police Department encourages all officers, regardless of where they are employed, to seek assistance.

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