OPD Pal mertree
P ro fe ssio n a l
Services Contract
Oakland Police Department
Deputy Chief Lisa Ausmus
Lieutenant Thomas Sotto
Background
• Michael Palmertree, MFT, is a licensed psychotherapist with over 30 years of experience providing counseling to first responders including law enforcement agencies
• Mr. Palmertree specializes in PTSD, stress, and alcohol/drug abuse • OPD has contracted his services since 2007
• OPD has conducted 3 RFPs for therapist services in 2008, 201 2, and 2020 for which Mr. Palmertree was the sole respondent Background
• Mr. Palmertree has developed the Critical Incident
Stress Debriefing (CISD) program for law enforcement
for dealing with severely traumatic critical incidents
• Mr. Palmertree also has developed a special
alcohol/drug treatment program which allows for full
payment for 28- day in -patient treatment
• He is also a pioneer in the development of employee assistance programs (EAP)
Background
• OPD’ s Wellness Unit serves officers and professional staff by providing resources which include Peer Support, the Chaplain's Unit, Critical Incident Response Team, the OPD Medical Unit, and the Employee Assistance Program (EAP) together in one place. • Mr. Palmertree assisted with the development of Peer Support, Critical Incident Response Team, and the Employee Assistance Program (EAP)
• Counseling services are a critical component of the Wellness Unit Background
• As part of the decision made by the United States District Court for Northern California ("the Court") in relation to the lawsuit brought forth in the case known as the Riders, the City of Oakland and OPD entered into a Negotiated Settlement
Agreement (NSA).
• Tasks 40 and 41 of the NSA require OPD to establish an early identification and intervention program to detect and address police personnel engaged in at-risk behavior and substandard performance
Servi ces
Services 2018-19 2019-20 2020-21
(entirely during
COVID
pandemic)
2021-22 2022-23 2023-24
Clinical
assessment and
counseling
653 hours for
165 personnel
590 hours for
196 personnel
593 hours for
190 personnel
Saw 238
personnel
Saw 244
personnel
Saw 271
personnel
Consultations
for behavioral or
emotional issues
100 55 131 51 62 69
Referrals for
programs and
counseling
35 52 43 51 49 54
Crisis
Intervention
15 8 15 18 16 21
Trainings 22 including 20
CPT
presentations
23 presentations
at CPT
N/A * * *
Critical Incident
Stress
Debriefing
8 for 192
personnel
6 for 154
personnel
6 for 124
personnel
8 for 188
personnel
8 for 144
personnel
7 for 152
personnel
Percentage of
OPD personnel
receiving
services
22% 22% 25% 31% 30% 32%
*no informational trainings needed as usage rate of services was robust Servi ces
• In 2023 Mr. Palmertree conducted 7 formal group
debriefings for which 152 officers attended
• The largest debriefing involved the line of duty death of Officer Tuan Le
• Other debriefings include cases involving death or
injury of children, officer involved shootings (OIS),
officers being threatened or shot at, and other
traumatizing events
Servi ces
• Mr. Palmertree has destigmatized counseling among
OPD officers and professional staff
• The steady increase in the usage of his services is also an indication of personnel being aware of the services
and recommending it to their peers
Proposed Contract
• Mr. Palmertree MFT services are $175 per hour which
is the industry average. (Comparison is a private pay
psychiatrist’s fees which range $ 300 -500/hour on
average in California)
• The $137,500 annual payment equals approximately
786 hours per year for individual counseling.
• Total five -year contract will be $687,500
Proposed Contract
Waiving the competitive request for proposal/qualifications (RFP/Q), and the local/small local business enterprise program requirements.
• Long standing relationship for over 20 years
• His services also are a necessary component to staying in compliance with Tasks 40 and 41 in the NSA agreement.
• Early identification of issues allows proactive intervention for PTSD, trauma from critical incidences, and other psychological issues which can impact an officer’s performance.
• If OPD was without Mr. Palmertree’s services, over one third of OPD personnel would be without mental health services they have come to depend on.
• Staff wish to continue receiving services from Mr. Palmertree due to the trust, understanding, and longstanding history they have built with him Personnel i mpact
**Survey conducted May 2025; 104 respondents
Personnel i mpact
• For 2024-2025, the rate for use of services is on track to be 7- 8% higher than the previous fiscal year
• Job related issues is the most common presenting problem • In previous years relationship/family problems have been the #1 reason personnel contacted Mr. Palmertree
Personnel i mpact
• These are some of the statements from the 104 respondents to the survey regarding Mr. Palmertree’s services:
• I learned coping skills
• He’s been with us for so long and understands policing from what it was then to how it is now. He knows officers for over decades which is helpful when talking about previous incidents
• ...He was available quickly and supported through text as well as in person. Absolutely critical to have him, especially when it can take months to set up therapy without outside resources.
• He gave me strategies to help me deal with stress allowing me to return to full duty.
• The critical incident debriefings are paramount to recovering [from] major incidents
• Helped me work through PTSD related to multiple critical incidents as well as associated marriage issues as a result
Q UESTIO NS
For more information contact Deputy Chief Lisa Ausmus at [email protected] or Lt. Thomas Sotto at [email protected]