BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — More mental health peer advisers and mental health days for police officers are set to be added to the city's budget after an adopted resolution today.
Common Council Member Chris Scanlon made the proposal, asking for these changes in light of five deaths in the past two years within the Buffalo Police Department. An issue 7 News reported on in April.
This would make peer mental health positions full-time, they're currently volunteer. Scanlon says these peers don't have the time currently to meet officer needs. It's similar to the Resilience Officer position in the Rochester Police Department.
He'd also like to see two to three mental health days per year for officers, so they can go to appointments.
"You know they can have the day off, check in with a therapist or whoever else they need to to make sure things are okay and hopefully it'll remove some of the stigma of some of the officers, reaching out and saying they need help, they're just taking the day off and taking care of business on their own," said Scanlon.
All 9 Common Council Members voted to adopt the resolution. The plan is to work it into the budget in the next few weeks. The budget must be approved by June 15.
