Airport Police Officers among first to graduate from new mental health training program

Two Tampa International Airport Police officers are among the first officers in the Tampa Bay area to complete a special mental health training program specifically geared towards law enforcement. Airport Police officers Angeliesse Nesterwitz and Stephanie Pascalli both completed the year-long program which included 6 college courses completed at St. Petersburg College. They were among the first group of 14 law enforcement officers from across the region to graduate last week with advanced technical certificates in Applied Mental Health.

“This was an amazing experience,” said Officer Nesterwitz. “It was definitely tough and took a lot of dedication and work, but the long term benefits for my agency and the passengers here at the airport made it worth it.”

The program is designed to equip law enforcement officers with the skills to better recognize and understand how stress and trauma can impact their fellow officers. The hope is that these two new graduates can help other officers at TPAPD who might be experiencing stress.

“One of the biggest eye openers I took away from this program is the stigma for law enforcement officers not to seek counseling,” said Officer Stephanie Pascalli.  “Most officers are apprehensive that any type of counseling will be viewed as being “unfit for duty.”

Officers Nesterwitz and Pascalli want to see that change. And luckily they have the full support of Chief Charlie Vazquez who was recently sworn in as President of the Florida Police Chiefs Association and vowed to make addressing mental health issues among officers a top priority during his one-year term.  

“As we better understand the dynamics and impacts of mental health on our employees, it's important for us to develop techniques and policies to assist them in better coping with the daily stresses of police work and beyond,” said Vazquez.  “Stephanie and Angeliesse gained a new perspective on how officers are affected by both traumatic events and long-term effects of the profession. They gained valuable insights on the resources available that offer assistance and the importance of just checking up on each other.”

Officer Pascalli pointed out that 53 law enforcement officers across the U.S. have taken their lives already this year. “That’s roughly 7 officers a month,” Pascalli said.  “Officers can be exposed to up to 900 traumatic events throughout their careers, compared to 10 traumatic events in the lifetime of the average person.”

Both Officer Pascalli and Nesterwitz say they would like to further their education in the field of mental health with the goal of offering assistance to other officers.

“One of the major problems for law enforcement officers is the lack of culturally competent mental health counselors,” said Officer Nesterwitz. “Unfortunately, most mental health counselors are not properly trained on how to help officers who have experience multiple critical incidents.”

The goal of St. Petersburg College’s new mental health program is to create an educational path so officers can eventually become counselors where police agencies in Florida would then have a network of culturally competent counselors for their employees.

In the meantime, TPAPD is working on a proposal to create a peer support team within the police department. Nesterwitz says she would love to see that implemented soon and even expanded to create an Airport-wide peer support team so all HCAA employees would have access.

“This program was great because it provided me with a greater set of tools to help fellow officers experiencing stress or trauma,” said Nesterwitz “But stress and trauma is not limited to only officers so it can also help me with passengers I encounter, and even other HCAA employees.”

Congratulations to Officers Pascalli and Nesterwitz on their recent graduation!