Updated: September 26, 2019, 7:22 AM

NYPD considers measuring ‘officer wellness’ in performance reviews

By Craig McCarthy and Tina Moore

The NYPD plans to measure “officer wellness” amid performance reviews — a move linking mental health and internal affairs that officers and a union slammed as “ridiculous” on Thursday.

A rare joint report from the city’s Department of Investigation and NYPD issued Tuesday made 12 recommendations to improve support services for cops — including measuring “officer wellness,” bringing in mental-health professionals, increasing outreach and studying whether mandatory check-ins helped, all of which the NYPD has or is in the process of rolling out.

The report did not define “officer wellness” — but suggested using some data already tracked by internal affairs, such as personal domestic incidents or alcohol-related offenses.

The Police Benevolent Association said the approach is all wrong.

“The Inspector General’s recommendation to link mental health and wellness efforts with the Internal Affairs Bureau and the NYPD disciplinary system is absolutely the wrong approach,” PBA President Patrick Lynch said. “It gets the problem backwards: the bureaucratic second-guessing to which police officers are subjected is already a significant source of stress.”

The report, which was based on an anonymous survey of officers who retired in 2016, says a quarter of the cops admitted they’ve considered talking to a professional for trauma on the job, but most didn’t follow through.

Many of them believed asking for help could affect their career.

The findings come as the department reels from a spike in cop suicides in 2019 — and as top brass struggles to balance helping officers and ensuring their fitness for duty.

Last month, the NYPD said it would no longer strip an officer of their badge even if they were forced to hand over their gun — in another attempt to destigmatize counseling.

The PBA and law enforcement sources have been wary of the department being too involved in their personal life out of fear it could hurt their career.

“You want cops to come forward and seek help if they have a personal issue, but if you’re all of a sudden going to thrust some person into their home or call them into the office, they’re going to be resistant to that,” the source said. “It’s a ridiculous idea.”

Another police source scoffed at his personal life becoming part of his officer review and said the department would be better off trying to reduce cop stress.

“What they need to be is more concerned with the fact that the job itself is stressful,” the source said. “They need to rotate these cops around every once in a while. Offer these guys who have been working in these tough commands different precincts for a while.”

The NYPD said it is “committed to addressing the mental health stigma head-on.”

Police Commissioner James O’Neill has encouraged officers to come forward, saying in the report “asking for help is never a sign of weakness – in fact, it is a sign of great strength.”

The DOI report “took a thorough look at this very significant issue and its recommendations focus on the issues of availability and use of high-quality treatment, ensuring that seeking help does not have negative career consequences, and various ways to normalize the conversation around mental health and wellness in order to end any associated stigma,” a DOI spokeswoman said.