TCOLE advisory group backs early‑intervention checkpoints, recommends training, letters and resource guide

Members of a Texas Commission on Law Enforcement (TCOLE) advisory subcommittee on officer wellness discussed a package of recommendations aimed at expanding early mental‑health intervention, improving access to assessment and counseling, and giving agencies simple tools to respond after incidents.

Chief Deputy Jimmy Jackson, presiding, said the checkpoints program Chief Ramirez used in Fort Worth is intended “to get involved in the front end” and to bridge the gap between single critical incidents and the long‑term trauma that can build over time. The group discussed four primary recommendations: add an informational letter and attached assessment resource for licensees arrested for DWI (with an accompanying letter to supervisors); publish a statewide resource guide for agencies and licensees; promote and host the 4‑hour Finding Wellness training as a required step toward basic proficiency for new licensees; and monitor and publicize available eGrants for first‑responder mental‑health work.

Why it matters: committee members pointed to recent officer suicides and to legislative funding that could support the…