Eugene commission approves peer-support protocol and limited Alpha-Stim device checkout for officer wellness

The Eugene Police Commission on Feb. 12 approved two department procedures to expand officer wellness options, including a brief, peer-led Acute Stress Adaptive Protocol and a controlled checkout program for Alpha-Stim cranial electrotherapy devices.

Katie Ainsley Wallace, the department's contracted qualified mental health professional and licensed counselor, will oversee the CES device program, which places five Alpha-Stim units in a secured wellness-room safe. Under the approved Procedure 11.25, an officer who completes training and reviews contraindications can check a device for up to four weeks; consent and clinical oversight will be handled by Katie Wallace, the procedure says.

"It induces the feeling of peaceful calmness. It helps with anxiety and insomnia," Katie Ainsley Wallace said when describing Alpha-Stim's intended effects. Sergeant Sean McCauley, who co-supervises the department peer-support resiliency team, and Emily McCauley described training and confidentiality safeguards and said the program is elective.

Supporters told the commission the devices and protocols are intended to be preventive and to reduce stigma about seeking help. Sergeant MacCauley said the department has trained many peer supporters and will keep the program under clinical oversight: "We're keeping it in a way that preserves patient-client confidentiality and removes barriers for folks to try it without out-of-pocket cost."

Commissioners pressed staff to remove or reword claims drawn from vendor materials about the device being "non-addictive" and to clarify reporting routes for device problems; the presenters agreed to edit the procedure language. The commission voted unanimously to adopt Procedure 11.24 (ASAP) and Procedure 11.25 (CES/Alpha-Stim) after those clarifications.

Commissioners and staff emphasized the procedures are voluntary, not mandatory fitness-for-duty measures, and noted statutory confidentiality limits (for instance, disclosures involving self-harm or imminent risk trigger reporting obligations). The commission also discussed insurance and VA coverage options for officers who later pursue personal devices.

The immediate next step is for staff and the contracted QMHP to finalize redline edits requested by commissioners and put the updated procedures into the department's policy manual.