Change the culture, save the officer

To the Editor:

As we enter 2026, I want to speak directly to police officers, supervisors, and leaders, not from a position of theory, but from lived experience.

Law enforcement is a profession built on service, sacrifice, and resilience, but for too long, we have ignored the toll this job takes on our mental and physical health. We’ve normalized exhaustion, emotional suppression, and suffering in silence. That mindset is costing careers, families, and lives. As we start a new year, it’s time for honest resolutions and not ones that sound good on paper, but ones that actually keep officers alive and well.

My message to police officers: You are not weak for needing care.

For years, we’ve been taught to push through everything — trauma, stress, grief, and fear. I’ve lived that reality and suffered in silence with my mental health for years after using deadly force on someone who armed themselves with a hatchet inside a busy department store. I know how easy it is to ignore warning signs and tell yourself you’ll deal with it later. In 2026, my challenge to officers is simple: stop waiting until later.

Make your mental health a priority, not an afterthought. That means checking in with yourself after critical incidents, talking to someone you trust, and using professional resources without shame. Mental health care is not a career ender, it is career preservation.

Physically, this job demands more from your body than most professions. Long hours, disrupted sleep, poor nutrition, and chronic stress wear you down over time. You don’t need extreme fitness goals, you need consistency. Move your body, improve your sleep when you can, fuel yourself better, and go to the doctor. A healthier body supports a clearer mind, better judgment, and safer outcomes on the street.

My message to supervisors: Your leadership can save lives.

Supervisors are the front line of culture. You see officers daily. You notice changes in behavior, attitude, and performance long before administration does. In 2026, I am asking supervisors to stop leading with silence and start leading with support.

Normalize mental health conversations. Ask real questions and be prepared to listen. Don’t wait until an officer is failing, isolated, or in crisis before stepping in. Early intervention is leadership, not micromanagement.

Equally important is to model what healthy leadership looks like. Take time off. Set boundaries. Seek help when you need it. When supervisors demonstrate that wellness matters, officers believe it’s safe to do the same. What you tolerate becomes culture, and what you ignore becomes policy without being written.

My message to police leaders: Wellness is not optional — it’s operational.

Leadership sets the direction of the profession. In 2026, police leaders must stop treating wellness as a buzzword and start treating it as operational readiness. Officers who are mentally and physically healthy make better decisions, use better judgment, and build stronger trust with the communities they serve.

One of the most damaging failures I’ve witnessed is how departments abandon officers when they struggle. Too often, mental health becomes a liability issue instead of a leadership responsibility. That must end. Leaders must commit to supporting recovery, offering meaningful accommodations, and standing by officers during their hardest moments, not distancing themselves when it becomes uncomfortable.

Policies don’t build trust. Actions do. Supporting officers when they are vulnerable is how leadership is measured.

My resolution for 2026: Change the culture — save the officer.

My resolution as we enter 2026 is to end the silence, end the stigma, and ensure no officer feels disposable.

Mental and physical health in policing is not an individual failure, it’s a shared responsibility. When officers are supported, supervisors are engaged, and leaders are accountable, we build a profession that can survive and evolve.

Let 2026 be the year we stop pretending toughness means suffering alone. Let it be the year we protect our own with the same urgency we protect the public.

Because when we take care of the officer, we strengthen the badge and we save lives. 

Capt. Adam A. Meyers, CPS

Hartford