"I need help."
There are conversations in local government that change how you think about leadership. This is one of them. In this episode of PCC Local Time, I sit down with Chief David Lash of Northern York County Regional Police and Chief Dave Steffen, retired chief of Northern Lancaster County Regional Police, to talk about how the idea of wellness actually converts to meaningful outcomes inside a police agency.
Link to an earlier episode with Chief David Steffen on Regional Policing
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TIMESTAMPS:
00:00 Opening: why wellness and policing are difficult to connect
02:00 A 25-year relationship: how it began
05:30 The shift in policing culture around wellness
10:00 February 2025: the UPMC shooting
13:30 Immediate response and the role of support systems
17:30 Continuity of care and leadership perspective
19:30 September 2025: the second critical incident
22:30 “Two minutes of hell”: what happened and what followed
24:30 Leadership under pressure and the role of relationships
26:30 The three-word call: “I need help”
28:30 Reframing wellness as culture, not program
29:30 Reducing stigma and normalizing support
31:00 Moving from reactive to proactive wellness
32:30 Total wellness: beyond mental health
34:00 Building access: systems, providers, and trust
36:30 Wellness and use of force: a possible connection
38:00 Mindfulness and officer buy-in
39:00 Feeling valued as a core metric
40:30 Resistance, generational differences, and adaptation
44:30 Extending wellness into the community
46:30 Budgeting for wellness as essential, not optional
48:00 Culture shift: from external image to internal strength
49:30 Closing reflections: what can be carried forward
