MINNEAPOLIS — LeAnne Renteria understands the pressures of law enforcement as well as anyone.
She served as a police officer for more than a decade in multiple Minnesota departments, which included work as a field training officer and detective. Her father, grandfather, uncles and cousins have all worked in law enforcement, and she's even married to a police officer.
"I have spent my whole life in the law enforcement field in one way or another," Renteria said. "I have seen what trauma does to officers."
But when her own family sought help years ago, she discovered a glaring hole in mental health services.
"There weren't enough people in the mental health field," Renteria said, "that understood what it was like to be a police officer."
Renteria decided to become part of the solution. After a career transition, she now works as a mental health therapist out of her South St. Paul office, specializing in helping law enforcement officers and their families.
She's also using her unique perspective to help train other therapists in Minnesota, through a program known as Law Enforcement Specialty Training. After the state legislature approved funding for the program last year, Adler Graduate School in Minnetonka will train 150 licensed therapists over the next two years, with the goal of expanding the number of mental health professionals who can meet the specific needs of law enforcement.
The training, which lasts 36 hours over four weekends, has a detailed curriculum that includes aspects like "law enforcement mentality" and "barriers to seeking help."
"Part of the training is 'Day in the Life' of a police officer. They're getting to understand the field," Renteria said. "These people are giving up their Friday evenings, their Saturdays, because they legitimately want to learn more about the field. They want to read books, talk to police officers and find out as much as they can so they can truly help these people — help law enforcement and their families."
Solange Ribeiro, the president of Adler Graduate School, initially planned on an extensive marketing campaign for the Law Enforcement Specialty Training. To her surprise, the demand was so high that all three of her 2024 sessions sold out on the first day, and there's now a waiting list for therapists to take the training.
"If you help law enforcement officers, and you help their families, they are much more able to make better decisions in the spot when they find critical situations," Ribeiro said. "Therefore public safety is enhanced."
Ultimately, after the end of six four-week sessions in 2024 and 2025, Adler will create a directory of all therapists who've taken the training. That list will then be distributed to every law enforcement agency in the state.
LeAnne Renteria hopes the program will help expand mental health options for law enforcement.
"A lot of police officers, they're doing the job but they're struggling and they're hurting," Renteria said. "I do what I do because we need healthy cops."
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