IMPD using mental health app to help officers cope with trauma, reduce burnout

INDIANAPOLIS — The Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department is giving its officers access to an app that will allow them to evaluate their mental health and seek resources.

The effort comes as the department is dealing with severe staffing shortages and officer burnout. That burnout, Chief Chris Bailey said, can come from witnessing death, destruction and often the worst of humanity on a day-to-day basis.

“If you think about the number of instances, traumatic or otherwise, that our officers experience from early in their career and throughout a 20-year career, it’s staggering,” Bailey said. “They are exposed to so much trauma.”

Bailey said that trauma can take its toll and historically has come with an unspoken rule against talking about mental health struggles.

“The days of looking at issues and rubbing dirt on it and getting back in the game are over,” Jim Sorgi said. “It’s not working.”

Sorgi, best known as the backup quarterback to Colts legend Peyton Manning, runs ProTeam Tactical Performance and co-founded the company. ProTeam has worked with IMPD for years on addressing officers’ physical health, but is now going below the surface.

“Mental injuries are just like physical injuries,” Sorgi said. “If you get them early enough, you can stop them from becoming a serious situation.”

IMPD officers now have access to the “SHIELD” app, which is owned and run by ProTeam.

It allows officers to self-evaluate their mental health ina number of categories such as anxiety, depression and substance abuse. Based on their answers, the app will give them a score that falls in the green, yellow or red category. Green being the best and red being the worst.

Based on that score, the officer can decide to seek help and the app connects them to resources both within and outside of the department. The officers can schedule an appointment with a therapist or read about some ways to cope with whatever issue they’re struggling with most.

“We’re always calling them to help us on our worst day and then we expect them just to bottle that up and move on with their life,” Sorgi said. “That’s not the way it’s done.”

Officer burnout has been a struggle with IMPD as they deal with their lowest staffing levels ever.

At last check, the department had just over 1,400 officers, the smallest workforce since the merger of IPD and the Marion County Sheriff’s Department nearly 20 years ago.

The app and appointments that come with it are costing the department approximately $340,000, according to IMPD. Chief Bailey said the price tag is well worth it to keep the officer he does have.

“If they’re unhealthy and they’re not happy and they’re not safe, they are really no good to the community,” Bailey said. “I need them to be good for the community and their families.”

The Indianapolis Fire Department said it has been using the same app since May 2024 and said firefighters who have used it give “overwhelmingly positive” reviews.

“IFD was the first agency in the country to partner with ProTeam Tactical Performance on health and wellness initiatives and have been doing so since December of 2019,” IFD spokesperson Rita Reith said in a statement. “We are especially proud of that fact since more agencies have followed suit and our lead.”

Bailey said he hopes officers will take advantage of the resources, but it does remain optional.

“We are trying to break that stigma and give as many tools as possible to our officers and professional staff so they can get the help that they need,” Bailey said.