Chesapeake council hears pitch for Ally Connect app to expand first‑responder mental‑health supports

Chesapeake officials heard a presentation on a pilot of Ally Connect, a mental‑health and wellness platform the city says would give first responders 24/7 access to peer support, licensed therapists and AI‑driven check‑ins. The police department pilot began March 26; staff recommended beginning a police rollout July 1 and exploring expansion to fire and the sheriff's office.

The presenter said the app can match members with vetted therapists within 24 hours, route officers to city clinicians and provide predictive wellness check‑ins based on CAD (computer‑aided dispatch) data. "This will allow us to provide intervention before there's a crisis," the presenter said, describing the tool's ability to identify cumulative exposure to critical incidents and prompt outreach by peer support or the clinical wellness coordinator.

City staff framed the technology as complementary to existing resources. Speaker Trace, representing the department's peer support team, said the team — established after an officer‑involved shooting in 1993 — has 19 members and has had 271 peer contacts so far this year. The presenter said the pilot (offered to roughly 400 sworn officers and dispatch personnel) had 216 voluntary participants and 363 completed wellness check‑ins to date.

On cost, staff estimated about $98,000 the first year for the police deployment, including CAD integration, followed by roughly $83,000 per year thereafter. Expanding the program to police, fire and sheriff would carry a larger initial cost (staff estimated about $199,000 for year one and about $172,000 annually thereafter across the three departments). A slide error listing $85,000 for ongoing costs was corrected to $83,000 during the presentation.

Council members asked about data flow, privacy and who would be notified. Staff said the app would notify the individual officer first and could also alert peer support, the clinical wellness coordinator and command staff; departments would set the incident types and numeric triggers that generate outreach. Speaker Trace said the company uses AI to flag events the department agrees are critical, such as suicide, death of a child or incidents with serious injuries.

On personnel, the city said it has hired two licensed professional counselors for the employee clinical wellness program (one full time and one part time) to triage and coordinate care; those clinicians can refer to psychiatrists, licensed clinical social workers or psychologists as needed. The presentation also noted an "assured excellence" program rolled out in 2025 that gives employees access to nationally recognized inpatient providers.

The city manager told council members the funding plan for Ally Connect will appear as part of budget technical corrections and final amendments on June 23 and said the recommended package would not rely on asset‑forfeiture funds; staff identified a mix of wellness funds, savings and a reserve line item as likely sources. Several council members expressed support and asked staff to lock pricing and capacity where possible.

No formal vote was taken; staff recommended proceeding with the police department first and returning to council with final funding language on June 23.

Ending: The council thanked staff for the presentation and moved on to the regular meeting agenda.