A law enforcement career can be as stressful as it is rewarding. Many officers are looking for support, not only for coping with the aftermath of traumatic incidents, but also for handling the personal, financial and other stressors which can be exacerbated by the demands of their career.

To answer this need, Power in Peers, a unique program developed by the Fraternal Order of Police (FOP) and funded by the U.S. Department of Justice Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS Office), was launched in late 2024.

Designed by law enforcement for law enforcement, it is a comprehensive course for both new and experienced peer supporters, created to not only increase the skill level and number of trained peer supporters, but also to create a national standard for law enforcement peer support and provide participants with access to a nationwide network of trained peer mentors.

A train-the-trainer program designed for active and retired members of law enforcement as well as civilian staff and mental health clinicians who serve law enforcement personnel, Power in Peers introduces several key innovations to the field of law enforcement peer support and is currently available at no charge to law enforcement agencies.

Support for Work and Life Challenges

Unlike programs which focus on critical incident–related trauma and its aftermath, Power in Peers empowers law enforcement personnel with a broad set of tools for providing meaningful support to their compatriots in all areas of life.

Instructor Meghann Holloway, an officer with 24 years of experience in the Howard County (Maryland) Police Department and the department’s Wellness Coordinator, taught the first Power in Peers pilot alongside Power in Peers creator with National FOP Wellness Director Sherri Martin. “Helping officers cope with PTSD [Post-traumatic stress disorder] is a huge part of our job, but we’ve learned that dealing with critical incidents is only one thing that creates struggles for members of law enforcement. Power in Peers addresses multiple levels of life challenges, such as work and health issues, financial challenges, divorce, supporting a disabled child, or other family concerns,” says Holloway. “It provides training for responding to the less critical, yet still serious stresses as well as the big ones. A large section of the curriculum even focuses on self-care for peer support mentors themselves.”

According to Christopher Scallon, a retired sergeant from the Norfolk (Virginia) Police Department, who holds a master’s degree in psychology, a common topic is marital issues related to scheduling and the effects of stress on relationships. “Sometimes the little issues compound into bigger problems that can cost us our reputations or our jobs” he said.

Power in Peers provides practical guidance for developing a peer support team and staffing and launching the program, along with considerations for the dynamics of smaller agencies.

Building Resilience through Positive Psychology

Power in Peers is based on the Positive Psychology framework, which focuses on identifying an individual’s personal strengths and providing strategies for building on them to improve well-being and not only heal but thrive.

“In the first pilot training,” says Holloway, “a room of experienced peer supporters said they wished this had been the curriculum they had originally been trained in. They liked that it got away from the negative approach, from treating PTSD like a mental illness [that can’t be overcome].”

Scenario-Based Learning

Scenario-based training can elicit groans from a room of experienced law enforcement professionals. However, the scenarios presented in the Power in Peers curriculum have proven to be effective and necessary. Devin Conroy, Administrative Sergeant in the Durango (Colorado) Police Department who brought the pilot to Colorado in 2024 says, “Through interactions with others based on real life kinds of situations, you learn how to really connect with somebody, help them feel relaxed, and get information without them feeling like you’re prying. Though this is an instructor course, you are learning how to answer difficult questions including how and when to pull out of a situation in order to help a peer connect with professional services that extend beyond the capabilities of peer support.”

A Network of Peer Supporters

Another unique aspect of Power in Peers is its networking capability. Through Power in Peers, officers can access a national network of trained peer support mentors outside their agency or even their state. In a crisis situation, having peer supporters who aren’t personally involved with the department allows everyone to receive assistance, including peer supporters from within the department. For example, in the case of a line-of-duty death, outside peer supporters can give their full support because they are not personally grieving the loss of a colleague.

Free Training with Certification on Completion

Power in Peers is taught for groups of up to 24 people and offers both train-the-trainer and basic courses in a 40-hour, five-day in-person training format. On completion of the train-the-trainer course, participants become certified as Power in Peers instructors with the ability to host their own classes.

With current grant funding from the COPS Office, these training courses are free of charge. Since 2024, the team has delivered eighteen train-the-trainer courses in eighteen different states. Those trainers have, at the time of writing, delivered twenty-five local basic peer supporter trainings with training courses ongoing.

For more information on Power in Peers, please visit Power in Peers on the FOP Website.

A Model for Statewide Peer Support

Pennsylvania serves as a model for how Power in Peers can spread across a state or region from a single train-the-trainer class. Following a January 2025 class in Harrisburg, PA, several of the 20 attendees hosted their own classes across the Commonwealth, touching agencies large and small. Within one year, Philadelphia Police Department sergeant Janean Brown, a leader in the agency’s new Peer Support Program, held four classes training many of the team’s inaugural peer supporters. Sgt. Brown noted the “overwhelmingly positive” response from the initial two classes and intends to bring the remainder of the team, which includes individuals who had completed separate in-house training in 2024, into the Power in Peers fold. Officers are “trained to listen to respond,” she observed, but Power in Peers teaches them to just listen; often, simply being an available empathetic ear for someone.

A consortium of agencies in nearby Lebanon County is also training their members with Power in Peers. Sgt. Gerry Cassel of South Londonderry Township, a driving force behind the multiagency peer support team that operates under the local FOP Lodge (Lebanon Lodge No. 42), stated that it is now written into the team’s policy that individuals are “not allowed to represent [themselves] as peer support without” being Power in Peers certified. However, Cassel noted some challenges in bringing the training to his team and region. Small, often minimally staffed departments cannot easily spare an officer for a full week at a time. With approval from the National FOP, the Lebanon County class (which also included participants from neighboring Lancaster County) was split into two parts: the first three days of training took place Friday through Sunday, followed by a two-week break before holding the final two days on a weekend.

The Pennsylvania State FOP’s Chuck Bailey, a retired state trooper, has seen the need for consistently high-quality peer support for years. “The key to the effectiveness of the training,” Bailey says, “lies in the interactive class format, including role-playing exercises and discussions afterward.” Brown and Cassel also noted the impact of role-playing opportunities. “When we first went in,” said Cassel, “they said we were going to be doing role playing, I didn’t want to do it. . . It was the best part. . . learning from [others’] experience.” Brown said that initially, students in the classes she has taught were worried they wouldn’t be able to fill three minutes during the Day One scenarios, but by the end of the week they were so invested she “couldn’t get people to stop” at the end of 20-minute exercises.

Power in Peers is “the gold standard,” according to Bailey. “If someone is interested in starting a peer support program, they should start with Power in Peers. I wish this was my first training.” States across the United States can learn from the rapid rollout and expansion of Power in Peers across Pennsylvania as they seek to build a common framework, language, and understanding of peer support and wellness, whether introducing peer support for the first time or merely looking to enhance services.

A second train-the-trainer class is scheduled to be held in Moon Township, PA, the week of September 14, 2026. Interested students can enroll at https://fop.net/officer-wellness/power-in-peers/enroll-in-a-class/.

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