The officer who pushed for the creation of the New Westminster Police Department’s mental health unit has another item to add to his growing list of achievements.
Const. Arthur Wlodyka recently received a master’s degree from the University of British Columbia in the field of counselling psychology – a degree he earned by completing a thesis that examines police stressors and attitudes of officers when it comes to seeking psychological help.
His study was the first of its kind in Canada, according to a press release.
Wlodyka surveyed 100 police officers from three Lower Mainland police departments and learned the most difficult kinds of cases – the ones that cause the most stress to officers – are cases of child sexual assault and sudden infant death syndrome. Especially troubling to the officers he spoke with were the next-of-kin notifications, according to the release.
“You can’t go to a call with somebody begging or crying for help and think it’s not going to affect you,” Wlodyka said in the release. “We’re not robots. Telling someone their loved one has died tragically or horrifically moves you in ways that’s hard to explain.”
He also found, however, that officers don’t have a problem with seeking psychological help. In fact, he concluded B.C. police officers have a more positive attitude about getting help than college students, teachers and police officers in the United States.
“This was a surprising and important finding as attitudes can be an indicator of future behaviour,” he said. “It suggests this sample of police officers would be open to using counselling services and other mental health resources.”
Wlodyka, who leads the New Westminster Police Department’s mental health unit, plans to use what he learned through his education to advocate for better mental health supports for his fellow officers as he and his team currently do for members of the public.
It was thanks to Wlodyka’s determination that the New Westminster Police Board supported the creation of a mental health unit in 2013. Since then, the unit has grown to several members who provide assistance to officers whenever they are dealing with someone who could be suffering from a mental health issue.
