Nassau County Police Department opens wellness center for first responders struggling with stress
Nassau Police Det. Sgt Michelle Clifford-Marin, whose brother, also a Nassau police officer, died by suicide in 2017, heads up the department's new wellness office at Mineola headquarters and designed to offer support to law enforcement personnel in emotional distress. Credit: Newsday/Drew Singh
Nassau County Police Commissioner Patrick Ryder described it Wednesday as a dark tunnel. Nearby, department Det. Sgt. Michelle Clifford-Marin said it eventually led her brother Steven, also a Nassau cop, to take his own life.
The commissioner and detective sergeant both talked about how it — despair, often depression, from a life in law enforcement — can be a silent killer, among the underlying causes of too many deaths of cops by suicide.
At department headquarters in Mineola they were joined by other police and county officials; the group striking an optimistic tone at an old police museum, converted into a space to reach officers in distress before they potentially harm themselves or others.
"We’re always going to let people know there is help in there," said Ryder of the new center, which is staffed for peer support by Clifford-Marin and two police officers.
"No matter how dark that tunnel gets," the commissioner said, "they are going to find light if you keep moving forward."
Clifford-Marin said she hopes the department’s center will save officers’ lives.
"I just want to help anyone that is feeling troubled in any way," she said. "You know, it comes from the heart, because I lost my brother to suicide, and if we had resources like this, maybe it could have been prevented."
The center is open to officers from the county and its 18 village police departments, as well as from the cities of Long Beach and Glen Cove. It's a place to talk about what law enforcement personnel — police officers, prosecutors, emergency service members — often see on the street or in the courtroom, but can be hesitant to discuss, Ryder said.
For a more in-depth mental health therapy, Clifford-Marin said, officers and others using the center can reach out to the county's employee assistance department.
The Suffolk County Sheriff's Office opened Long Island's first full-time wellness center in December 2022, with the same mission and staffed by four members and a therapy dog named Luna.
Support staff is at the sheriff's center at all times to sworn and civilian members to address mental health, personal issues and crisis emergencies. The sheriff’s wellness team has counseled some of the department's nearly 1,200 members up to 4,400 times and also offered referrals to outside providers, sheriff’s officials said.
Suffolk police also have an employee assistance program that includes psychologists for officers in distress.
The FBI's Law Enforcement Suicide Data Collection reported 39 law enforcement suicides nationwide from 17 agencies in 2024, down from 41 reported suicides in 2023 and 50 deaths in 2022.
In 2017 Nassau County Police Officer Steven Clifford died by suicide. He was 35 and had served 12 years in law enforcement, starting with the NYPD before joining Nassau’s Third Precinct.
"We did not know, so it came as a shock to us," Clifford-Marin said of her brother's apparent mental health struggles before his death.
"Everything in hindsight is 20/20," she added, "and everyone can look back and say, ‘I wish we would have recognized this sign or that sign.' But sometimes, when small changes happen, you don't really recognize that as an issue."
Nassau Police Benevolent Association president Tommy Shevlin said prioritizing mental health is important for police officers to get the right help without judgment.
"We need to talk to somebody, we need confidentiality, we need to be able to trust that we can get help," Shevlin said. "And it's not a sign of weakness, it's a sign of strength."
Nassau County Police Commissioner Patrick Ryder described it Wednesday as a dark tunnel. Nearby, department Det. Sgt. Michelle Clifford-Marin said it eventually led her brother Steven, also a Nassau cop, to take his own life.
The commissioner and detective sergeant both talked about how it — despair, often depression, from a life in law enforcement — can be a silent killer, among the underlying causes of too many deaths of cops by suicide.
At department headquarters in Mineola they were joined by other police and county officials; the group striking an optimistic tone at an old police museum, converted into a space to reach officers in distress before they potentially harm themselves or others.
"We’re always going to let people know there is help in there," said Ryder of the new center, which is staffed for peer support by Clifford-Marin and two police officers.
"No matter how dark that tunnel gets," the commissioner said, "they are going to find light if you keep moving forward."
Clifford-Marin said she hopes the department’s center will save officers’ lives.
"I just want to help anyone that is feeling troubled in any way," she said. "You know, it comes from the heart, because I lost my brother to suicide, and if we had resources like this, maybe it could have been prevented."
The center is open to officers from the county and its 18 village police departments, as well as from the cities of Long Beach and Glen Cove. It's a place to talk about what law enforcement personnel — police officers, prosecutors, emergency service members — often see on the street or in the courtroom, but can be hesitant to discuss, Ryder said.
For a more in-depth mental health therapy, Clifford-Marin said, officers and others using the center can reach out to the county's employee assistance department.
The Suffolk County Sheriff's Office opened Long Island's first full-time wellness center in December 2022, with the same mission and staffed by four members and a therapy dog named Luna.
Support staff is at the sheriff's center at all times to sworn and civilian members to address mental health, personal issues and crisis emergencies. The sheriff’s wellness team has counseled some of the department's nearly 1,200 members up to 4,400 times and also offered referrals to outside providers, sheriff’s officials said.
Suffolk police also have an employee assistance program that includes psychologists for officers in distress.
The FBI's Law Enforcement Suicide Data Collection reported 39 law enforcement suicides nationwide from 17 agencies in 2024, down from 41 reported suicides in 2023 and 50 deaths in 2022.
In 2017 Nassau County Police Officer Steven Clifford died by suicide. He was 35 and had served 12 years in law enforcement, starting with the NYPD before joining Nassau’s Third Precinct.
"We did not know, so it came as a shock to us," Clifford-Marin said of her brother's apparent mental health struggles before his death.
"Everything in hindsight is 20/20," she added, "and everyone can look back and say, ‘I wish we would have recognized this sign or that sign.' But sometimes, when small changes happen, you don't really recognize that as an issue."
Nassau Police Benevolent Association president Tommy Shevlin said prioritizing mental health is important for police officers to get the right help without judgment.
"We need to talk to somebody, we need confidentiality, we need to be able to trust that we can get help," Shevlin said. "And it's not a sign of weakness, it's a sign of strength."
John Asbury is a breaking news and general assignment reporter. He has been with Newsday since 2014 and previously worked at The Press-Enterprise in Riverside, California.
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