NEWPORT NEWS, Va. -- With every call for help, the job of a police officer becomes more grueling. The job takes a toll physically and emotionally.
"Policing is more stressful now than ever has been," admits Chief Steve Drew of the Newport News Police Department.
Chief Drew sat down with News 3 anchor Blaine Stewart to reveal a better idea of what happens in the mind of a law enforcement officer after a traumatic call.
"The things that officers see, that they respond to, are things that I wish individuals never had to see," Drew shared.
One call will stay with many on the force in Newport News for a lifetime. In 2020, a fellow officer, Katie Thyne, was killed in the line of duty. Others, responding to calls involving children and violence, are also haunted by the images seen on the job.
"I've got to be careful with putting those officers right back in the same situation," Drew explained. "It's important that we make sure that we take care of the men and women who do this job on a daily basis."
That's where people like Saundra Cherry come in. She is a volunteer chaplain with the Newport News Police Department. There are approximately a dozen chaplains on the force who spend time with officers in the moments and months after a tragedy.
"We hear the hurt, we hear the pain, so we can walk with them in this journey," Cherry says.
A National Institutes of Health survey of police officers found 12% reported a lifetime mental health diagnosis. 26% reported current symptoms of mental illness. But of those officers, only 17% actually sought help.
"I think sometimes it's the stigma, that if I say, I'm not okay, that there's gonna be judgment or condemnation," Cherry believes.
The chaplains work to break that stigma simply by being there for the officers around the clock. Chief Drew hopes to create change by setting an example. He requires regular therapy sessions for department leadership, including himself.
"I think it helps create the environment or atmosphere, that it's okay, that it is acceptable, that I'm not any different than anyone else," Drew believes.
News 3 photojournalists Shavarious Jackson, David Agudelo and Michael Woodward contributed to this story.
