'It's OK to to talk about it:' Waterloo Police on new PTSD plan

The Waterloo Regional Police Service is taking new steps to ensure the mental and psychological wellbeing of its officers.

The service's new PTSD prevention plan looks at ways of preventing and helping treat PTSD among officers. It's based on a similarmodel used by the Armed Forces.

"Our members deal with traumatic incidents daily," Staff Sgt. Dean Smith told The Morning Edition's Craig Norris. "We want to make sure that they have the resources available to address those."

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For the WRPS's wellness unit, the big focus is on preventing the illness, and being open about some of the warning signs.

"We want them to feel comfortable talking to people about this," Smith said.

The project is already underway within the service and for Smith and his colleagues, the hope isthat this will foster more open and honestdialogue about mental health in their police service.