When it comes to overall wellness among police professionals, the focus is often on the obvious —mental, emotional, physical, and nutritional wellness, which are all core to one’s overall well-being. Often, however, one of the most overlooked and most impactful aspects of wellness is financial wellness. Financial literacy has never been the hallmark of education in the U.S. public school system, and that oversight often continues with the lack of financial wellness resources for police recruits all the way through to the lack of financial resources for veteran officers.

In the fall of 2024, the Oklahoma State University Center for Family Resilience and the Oklahoma First Responder Wellness Division conducted a wellness needs assessment of Oklahoma first responders. The data showed that financial stress is a common concern among Oklahoma’s first responders. In the survey data collected from more than 1,100 first responders, 60.9 percent reported financial stress as a top concern, and over 54 percent requested access to financial wellness classes. Overall, financial expenses were reported as one of the top barriers to first responder wellness.

In the high-stress world of policing, officers dedicate their lives to serving and protecting their communities. However, amid the rigorous demands of their profession, their personal financial wellness often takes a back seat. Financial stress, like any other stressor, can negatively impact job performance, decision-making, and overall mental health. Police leaders will be able to recall many times when they had to deal with discipline issues that could be directly tied to financial problems in the officer’s household. How about the lack of productivity due to exhaustion from officers who have overleveraged their finances to the point where they have to work more and more overtime? What about the safety aspect of working on little sleep due to all that overtime? In recognizing this all-too-common issue, police organizations have an opportunity—and a responsibility—to implement programs and training that empower their employees to take control of their financial futures.

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