The Pullman Police Department partnered with the company Cordico to develop a new officer wellness app, which launched at the end of last month.

Pullman Police Chief Gary Jenkins said the department’s Wellness Committee helped develop the new app, aiming to provide mental and emotional support to officers in need.

Officers can access therapists, peer support and wellness modules through the app. The wellness modules cover topics like depression, support systems, stress management, emotional first aid and more, he said.

The app is also available to the public under a “public access” feature. Jenkins said community members can access Pullman PD social media accounts, contacts, alerts, media galleries and crime prevention tips through the app.

Pullman PD considered creating the app for the past few years but could not fund the project until recently. 2021 will act as the pilot period for the new app, he said. 

The idea for the app came in response to national attention toward the topic of mental health, he said.  All law enforcement officers face varying degrees of stress regularly, including continual exposure to traumatic episodes and grief.

In addition to daily stressors, there has been a large amount of negative attention nationally toward law enforcement over the last few years, Jenkins said.

This daily toll on officers’ mental wellness puts them at higher risk of managing symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, anxiety and thoughts of suicide, Jenkins said. 

“They see a lot of horrible things,” he said.

Jenkins said he plans on using many of the app’s features in the near future.