Brooklyn Park Prioritizing Mental Health for City Staff and Residents
Inspector Matt Rabe with the Brooklyn Park Police Department says overall health has changed a lot in law enforcement.
Brooklyn Park Police Inspector Matt Rabe shows off the department’s gym for use by officers and staff.
“My first police department was in a small town. I was sitting in the garage with my chief at the time, was a working chief taking 911 calls. He was smoking a cigarette, had just had a cheese burger for lunch,” said Rabe.
These days not only are police officers taking better care of their bodies, working out during their shift at gyms located in police stations, they’re also taking better care of their minds.
“We require that every staff member, every police officer, speaks to a therapist once a year,” he said.
Rabe says many see a therapist on a monthly basis.
A donation to the Brooklyn Park police station is also making a positive difference.
A sauna was recently donated for use by Brooklyn Park Police Department officers and staff.
“We recently got a sauna. There’s a lot of research out there that indicates that a sauna can be very healthy and very helpful,” said Rabe. “Personally, I love it. I use a sauna almost every single day. It makes me feel better, gets me ready for my day.”
Brooklyn Park Police look out for the mental health of its officers and staff, and the people they serve.
The department provides qualified specialists to respond to mental health-related calls.
“Not only can they go out to the scene talk to the person, they can bring them from the scene to the behavioral health center and do a warm hand-off and connect them directly to those resources, or they can help them set up a meeting or some set of connection point to their primary care giver or to a therapist,” said Rabe.
A Positive Space for Youth
The Zanewood Recreation Center offers a safe environment for kids to young adults where mental health is a priority.
“We offer a three day mental health and wellness retreat that happens over the winter break according to our school district calendar that is open to anyone in the Twin Cities area ,” said Arts and Engagement Specialist Tashawna Williams.
Along with that retreat, Zanewood offers year-round programming including after-school care, sports, and art to give young people a positive outlet.
“I believe that mental health is something that has been a stigma for a very long time especially for our BIPOC community to discuss, to talk about, to have the tools to navigate and so with me and my team we thought it was very important to provide programming, resources, as well as skills to navigate through those emotions,” she said.
By community groups prioritizing the issue of mental health, the whole community benefits .
“It’s a critical component of providing services to the community is to also ensure, that our staff, our people are the best that they can be, both physically, emotionally, mentally, and addressing those needs for our staff allows them to do better work and better connect with the community,” said Rabe.
