Sergeant Brian Casey, current Employee Assistance Program Director (EAP) for the Saint Paul Police Department, has had an enduring interest in health and wellbeing, especially behavioral health with its focus on mental health and addiction. He earned a BS in Health Education from the University of Minnesota. After graduation, he spent several years working as a paramedic and EMS educator at Hennepin County Medical Center. In 2006, he left a position training paramedics at Inver Hills Community College to become a Saint Paul Police Officer. In 2012, Brian was promoted to sergeant and in 2014 became the Director of the Police Department’s EAP. “I feel really fortunate to find myself all these years later as a Saint Paul police officer making use of my college degree and all my experience working in public safety.”
In his current role, Brian assures the availability of EAP services to all police department employees and their family members. Services include private coaching, peer support, and therapeutic sessions with contracted licensed mental health professionals. The department actively educates officers in an effort to get ahead of some of the issues that cause mental and emotional distress. Brian provides health education to officers at roll calls, academy classes and in-service training. He believes that a high-functioning EAP is valuable to all employees and their families. Whether or not they find the need to use it, confidence that impactful and trustworthy resources are available brings peace of mind.
Brian knows that in order to be effective he must keep himself healthy, asserting, “I don’t always maintain a healthy balance, but I keep trying.” He watches his diet, eating healthy most of the time. His fitness routine has changed since working as a patrol officer.
At that time, his focus was on strength and endurance. His priorities were to prevent injury, maintain physical confidence, and be prepared to prevail when faced with resistance and aggression. As he has aged and his job changed, he now focuses more on flexibility, mobility, core strength and good sleep hygiene.
For mental and emotional wellness, Brian benefits from feeling well suited for the job, through education, experience and temperament. “Though I have always felt that whatever job I held at the police department was the most important job in the police department, being the EAP Director is some of the most challenging and rewarding work I have ever done. Most inspiring is sharing in how different work groups, especially the patrol officers, are able to find personal meaning and a higher sense of purpose in what they do, while sometimes being exposed to really awful stuff. I could not admire these people more.”
Employees who are not members of the Police Department can receive EAP services through HealthPartners by calling 866-326-7194 or logging on to their website at www.hpeap.com and enter password: saintpaul