Dallas Police Officers Offered 30 Days of Paid Leave to Deal with Alcohol Issues

Dallas police officers who request help for alcohol abuse will now be granted 30 days of paid leave to enroll in a rehabilitation program, according to an internal memo sent Friday to all department employees.

Dallas police Chief Eddie García wrote in the memo obtained by The Dallas Morning News that he is concerned about the number of alcohol-related arrests that involved officers. At least six Dallas police officers have been arrested over the last year on drunken driving or public intoxication charges, The News has reported.

Now, officers who request help — before an arrest or violation of departmental policies and procedures — will be authorized the administrative leave to attend a rehabilitation program, he said.

The department’s new wellness unit, launched earlier this year, identified centers that “specialize in treatment for first responders and can assist in coordinating enrollment,” the chief wrote in the memo.

García told The News that the wellness unit will be notified when an officer requests help, and will then ensure the officer spends 30 days in the program. He said it’s anticipated the 30-day approval will only be used one time, “however, further requests will be evaluated on a case-by-case basis.

“The concern for alcohol-related issues is real to me,” he said. “It damages our officers’ personal and professional lives.

“If you look at the administrative leave time used, the damage to their careers as well as personal lives after an incident occurs, utilizing the 30-day leave on the front end when our members acknowledge they have a problem and ask for help seems like a small investment in our people for a hopeful greater gain.”

Increased risk of problem drinking and substance abuse in law enforcement has been a known issue for decades.

A 2010 study of police working in urban areas “found that 11% of male officers and 16% of female officers reported alcohol-use levels deemed ‘at risk,’” according to the Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation. Because of the nature of the job, police are more likely than the general population to develop PTSD, according to the International Association of Chiefs of Police.

Mike Mata, president of the Dallas Police Association, said the department wants to rectify officer wellness problems early on. “Many times before,” he said, “we’ve kind of talked the talk, but not have walked the walk.”

He said some officers are skilled at hiding they have an alcohol abuse problem. He added it goes beyond alcohol, and more often, officers also struggle with addiction to prescription drugs. He said police see “the worst of the worst” and often internalize their struggles.

“It’s not healthy to see, you know, somebody murdered in the street,” Mata said. “It’s not healthy to see kids beaten. It’s not healthy to see abused wives. ... It’s just part of the job. And those are just hard things to take home and just forget about. ‘Cause you just can’t. You just can’t forget about it.”

Mata said police already have the Assist the Officer Foundation, which helps set officers up with treatment programs. However, he said, the program is offsite and intensive, so an officer can’t work while undergoing the treatment and may not have enough sick leave to take time off work. They don’t have to risk their jobs to get treatment, he said.

With the new program, an officer can now use the designated 30 days to “go get healed,” he said.

George Aranda, who leads the Dallas National Latino Law Enforcement Organization, said the department has previously failed to address the daily stressors of the job.

“This is a reminder that we are human and we, too, struggle with personal issues that affect those we serve,” Aranda said.

Terrance Hopkins, president of the Black Police Association, said the program is long overdue and will benefit not just officers, but society.

While the department has had programs in the past to help with substance abuse, Hopkins said 30 days of paid leave can make a huge difference. He said he hopes officers will take the program seriously and not hide behind shame or embarrassment.

“There’s always that mentality of, ‘If I let people know, they may use it against me,’” Hopkins said. “I still think some people might hold off, but hopefully this is what, you know, gets them over the edge and to go ahead and enroll in the program.”

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