LAKELAND, Fla. — A source of help is being provided within reach at the Lakeland Police Department.

What You Need To Know

  • The Lakeland Police Department helped launch a mobile app in March this year to help employees with mental health issues

  • It’s been serving as a one-stop-shop for resources, something that was non-existent until one of the assistant chiefs stepped in

  • Many departments are facing the same struggle nationwide, leading the department to help build the Lakeland PD Lighthouse app

The Lakeland Police Department is making it more convenient for officers to seek help when it comes to mental health. And it’s thanks to a mobile app that one of the department’s very own helped develop.

The app launched in March and, since that time, it’s been serving as a one-stop-shop for resources. It's something that was non-existent until one of the assistant chiefs here stepped in.

“It’s bringing to light a problem that we’ve probably experienced for a long time. It was just untracked," said Assistant Chief Steve Pacheco.

But until recently, he’s noticed something.

“I noticed there was a lack of accessibility to some of the things we had and it was very cumbersome for officers or members to find where to go to find help," said the 30-year veteran of the department.

Many departments are facing the same mental health struggle nationwide. That led Pacheco to help build the Lakeland PD Lighthouse app.

“The stigma around mental health is super strong and officers or members don’t want to seek help because of the label that’s put on them and they’re afraid of losing their job," he said. "They’re afraid of getting their gun taken away from them and not being able to work.”

Pacheco understands that struggle all too well, after his wife died by suicide 16 years ago.

“There were some key people that were instrumental in me seeking help to get through what I went through, and I just made it kind of my personal mission to hopefully pass that on," he said.

With a few taps on a mobile phone, the app launches a list of resources available — all at one’s fingertips.

“On the app, you can see that it’s customized to the local police department and all of the resources we have available to our officers and members are listed in there.”

The app has self-assessment tests for officers to run through themselves. It’s not only private but convenient for them to take on their own time.

“It takes them through a series of questions and it returns a score to them," Pacheco said. "The score may tell you that you’re OK on a certain level or the score may tell you you scored pretty high, which means you might be having some issues that you need to deal with.”

Pacheco hopes it will help everyone take a step toward making the conversation about mental health normal.

“Once we normalize a person’s ability to seek help, for them to realize that it’s OK to seek help, that it’s OK to not to be OK and we’re all human beings, that’s what it’s really about.”

The app is available for those LPD employees, both active and retired. They even have a website you can find can find online here.