NLEOMF’s Troy Anderson: ‘Zero is the only number that is acceptable’

Reducing officer deaths to zero is the key goal of the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund’s Officer Wellness and Safety program

April 04, 2023 02:37 PM •

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If you’ve visited the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial in Washington DC, you will know it is a moving and powerful experience like no other. The National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund (NLEOMF) helps to oversee the operations of the memorial and puts on programs and seminars for public safety professionals across the board.

In this episode of the Policing Matters podcast, sponsored by Staccato, host Jim Dudley speaks with Troy Anderson, executive director of Officer Safety and Wellness at NLEOMF, about NLEOMF’s officer wellness programs, reducing line of duty deaths, NLEOMF’S recent firearms safety summit and upcoming plans for National Police Week.

About our sponsor

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TOP QUOTES FROM THIS EPISODE

If you have a robust wellness program, that is a resource when you are recruiting and retaining folks.”

It doesn’t cost a lot of money to build a peer support program. There are some amazing community-based resources.”

The worst thing that law enforcement agencies do when confronted with starting a wellness program is to recreate the wheel.”

Resources mentioned in this episode

About our guest

Troy Anderson began his law enforcement career more than 30 years ago as a U.S. Army Military Police Officer and served in combat operations in the Middle East. He served the Connecticut State Police as a sergeant for 26 years, retiring as the Director of Wellness and Resilience. During his career, he served on patrol, as a resident state trooper, detective and internal affairs investigator.

In 2005, following several tragic events in the State Police, he authored a letter detailing the inherent benefits of a research-based peer support network within the Department of Public Safety. Based on that letter and additional support, the Connecticut General Assembly codified Public Act (PA) 06-188 authorizing the formation of a pilot peer support program for members of the Connecticut State Police, which became active in 2007.

Following the tragic school shooting at Sandy Hook School in Newtown, Connecticut on December 14, 2012, he managed the Connecticut State Police CISM Teams that were tasked with providing interventions and debriefings for the affected members of the Connecticut State Police, municipal and federal officers, investigators, fire EMS staff, support personnel and embedded clinicians.

He is the recipient of the International Critical Incident Stress Foundation (ICISF) Cofounders Award for Excellence in Critical Intervention and/or Disaster Response based on his work with the Sandy Hook Elementary School tragedy and has presented extensively on critical incident stress management across the United States, Canada and Europe.

Connect with Troy Anderson

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Policing Matters Podcast

Policing Matters law enforcement podcast with host Jim Dudley features law enforcement and criminal justice experts discussing critical issues in policing