SAN ANTONIO — The Bexar County Sheriff's Office announced that a new psychologist has joined the department.
Sheriff Javier Salazar formally introduced Dr. Brandi Burque at a press conference Monday morning. Burque is coming from the the San Antonio Police Department.
"My passion has been officer safety and officer wellness for a very long time. And to be a part of the sheriff's vision for this agency is a huge honor," said Burque.
Throughout her career, Burque has provided treatment to not only law enforcement officers, but military members and their families. She's provided care both at the local and federal level. Burque played an integral role in the development of a stress management program called the Performance and Recovery Optimization program (PRO).
"The performance and recovery optimization program is something we debuted at the San Antonio Police Department. And what makes it unique is that officers helped me write it and helped me present it. Because officers know what they need and we just need to get the right resources to them in order to handle the stress of the job," Burque said.
Salazar said she will bring her expertise to the sheriff's office to help deputies through their professional and personal issues. He said the goal is to reduce employee misconduct issues. Last year, 23 deputies and 3 employees at the sheriff's office were arrested. The crimes allegedly committed ranged from DWI to sexual assault of a child.
"Everybody knows that we are very much an agency in transition right now with regard to confronting a pervasive issue that has been present at the sheriff's office for well over a decade. Of course, we're dealing with officer misconduct, employee misconduct and it's something that we continue to fight," Salazar said. "I think if you use termination and arrests as your only approach to the situation, it's a one-dimensional approach and it's not effective if you're attacking it on several fronts."
Burque's role will include screening people who want to join the department and consulting negotiators during critical incidents. She will also, assist with Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) trainings. Salazar said measuring the success of the new psychologist will be determined in different ways.
"We're looking at response time to calls, we're looking at, of course, the use of sick leave as another measurable indicator of that. Are people calling in sick less as a result? Do they feel better coming to work? Certainly, being able to utilize things like surveys to figure out morale," Salazar said.
Salazar said he hopes to continue build a strong support team with Burque's help.
"We're going to continue to give her the tools she needs, whether it be additional psychologists, licensed counselors. She's going to guide us in the direction that we need to change the culture of the agency," said Salazar.