Syracuse, N.Y. — The Syracuse Police Department wants to do a better job looking after the mental and emotional health of its officers.

The department is asking the Common Council to approve spending $35,000 to purchase a mental wellness app that gives officers resources for dealing with the strain and trauma that often comes with the job.

First Deputy Chief Joseph Cecile said the app, called Cordico Shield, has been shown to improve morale and attendance in other departments where it’s used.

“We always work very hard from the neck down,” he told councilors, “but we don’t do much for [officers] from the neck up, even though they experience trauma.”

Cecile said studies show that the average police officer is faced with 188 traumatic events throughout a career. The typical citizen, meanwhile, might experience two or three such traumatic events in a lifetime. That kind of trauma takes a toll on a person’s mental health.

Police officers, Cecile said, have a 54% higher suicide rate than the average person. They’re also at far higher risk for depression, post-traumatic stress disorder and even cardiovascular disease.

“You can imagine the things they’re seeing, then they simply move onto the next call,” Cecile said. “The brain does not recover that quickly. You need time to recover…it continues to build up.”

The new app would offer 24/7 on-demand resources for an officer dealing with a crisis. It includes short videos from doctors trained in dealing with PTSD among military and police personnel, and techniques for cooling down after what Cecile called a “hot call.”

Currently, the department offers peer support — a group of officers who are available to counsel anyone having a difficult time. The names and numbers of those officers will be immediately available through the new app. So will information for therapists and department chaplains.

The app also offers resources for dealing with alcohol abuse, anger issues or family problems. The app will also be available to officers’ spouses for free.

The app is confidential for officers. Department brass won’t be able to see who is using the app, but they’ll be able to see how much it’s being used. That could serve as an indicator of how much it’s needed.

“We don’t want to track what they’re doing on it, we just want them to get the help,” Cecile said.

The department is also asking the council to approve hiring three chaplains for the next year. There have traditionally been two department chaplains. The council will vote Monday to hire Pastor Daren Jaime from the People’s AME Zion Church, Pastor Lateef Johnson-Kinsey and Pastor Evelyn Pizzaro.

The chaplains are available to officers and typically offer prayers and spiritual leadership at departmental events.

Councilor-At-Large Rita Paniagua noted Wednesday that Pizzaro is the department’s first female, Hispanic chaplain. She thanked Cecile for that.

The council meets to vote on the items Monday.