Serving Our Community with Courage, Integrity, and Innovation
Serving Our Community with Courage, Integrity, and Innovation Research identifies several occupational factors that
combine to create long -term health risks:
● Chronic activation of the stress response due to repeated exposure to danger and uncertainty.
● Rotating shifts and night work , which disrupt circadian rhythms and hormone regulation.
● Poor sleep quality, leading to cumulative fatigue and impaired recovery.
● Sedentary patrol work interrupted by brief periods of intense physical exertion.
● Irregular meal timing and reliance on convenience foods. ● Repeated exposure to traumatic incidents , contributing to PTSD, anxiety, and depression.
● Long work hours and overtime , reducing opportunities for exercise, recovery, and family time.
* https: //nij . oj p. gov/l i brary/publ i cati ons/shi fts-extended -work -hours -and- fatigue -assessment -health -and- personal -risks?utm_ source=chatgpt.com
Serving Our Community with Courage, Integrity, and Innovation Health Consequence Empirical Statistic Source
Depression
Police officers had nearly twice the rate of depressive symptoms compared with the general employed U.S.
population (12.0% vs. 6.8%).
(PubMed)
Poor Sleep 33% of officers slept less than 6 hours per 24-hour period, compared with only 8% of U.S. workers.(PubMed)
Metabolic Syndrome 26.7% of officers had metabolic syndrome versus
18.7% of the general employed population.(PubMed)
Obesity 40.5% of officers were obese compared with 32.1% of U.S. workers.(PubMed)
Night Shift & Sleep Quality
Officers working night shifts had a 70% higher
prevalence of poor sleep quality than officers working
day shifts.
(CDC)
Perceived Stress & Sleep
Officers reporting the highest stress levels were 4–6
times more likely to have poor sleep quality than
those reporting the lowest stress.
(CDC)
Cardiovascular Risk
Police officers have one of the poorest cardiovascular
health profiles of any occupation, with elevated rates
of hypertension, high cholesterol, obesity, and
metabolic disease.
(PubMed)
Mental Health & Heart Disease
Poor sleep quality in officers is associated with
higher cardiovascular disease risk, greater
depressive symptoms, and lower overall quality of
life.
(PubMed)
Serving Our Community with Courage, Integrity, and Innovation Statistic Finding
25% of police officers Approximately 1 in 4 officers screened positive for hazardous drinking in a 2020 systematic review of police mental health studies. (AP News) More than one-third Over 33% of male and female officers reported at least one binge-drinking episode in the previous month. (PMC)
18% of male officers Reported lifetime adverse social or interpersonal consequences from alcohol use. (PMC
)
16% of female officers Reported lifetime adverse consequences from alcohol use. (PMC)
7.8% of officers Met criteria for lifetime alcohol abuse or alcohol dependence. (PMC) Research from First H.E.L.P. and the CNA Corporation documented 1,287 law enforcement suicides from 2016–2022, averaging about 184 suicides per year across U.S. law enforcement professions. *https://leb.fbi.gov/articles/featured-articles/sheriffs-office-suicides?utm_source=chatgpt.com
Serving Our Community with Courage, Integrity, and Innovation Statistic Significance
Adults who use wearable activity
trackers average about 1,800
additional steps per day
compared with baseline in
randomized studies.
Increased daily movement lowers
the risk of cardiovascular disease
and premature death.
Wearable users increase
moderate-to-vigorous physical
activity by approximately 40–50
minutes per week on average.
Helps meet recommended
physical activity guidelines.
A 2022 meta-analysis found
wearable devices resulted in an
average weight loss of about (4–7
lb) when combined with lifestyle
interventions.
Demonstrates wearables improve
outcomes when paired with
coaching or behavior change
programs.
More than 225 million wearable
devices are shipped globally each
year.
Shows widespread adoption and
integration into healthcare and
wellness.
The global wearable healthcare
market is projected to exceed
$150 billion by the early 2030s.
Reflects the growing role of
continuous health monitoring in
medicine.
*Police1 Article: https://www.police1.com/biometrics/articles/could-wearable-devices-save-police-officers-lives-and-careers-TgX0mHqDZb8C7ROD/ Serving Our Community with Courage, Integrity, and Innovation In August 2025, the Police Department utilized funds from the Officer Wellness and Mental Health Grant Program from the California Board of Sate and Community Corrections to enter into a 1-year service agreement with Vigilife to develop and deploy the Safeguard wearable program with a small working group. The Wearables Program is an innovative initiative designed to enhance officer health, resilience, and operational effectiveness through real-time biometric monitoring and data-driven insights. Utilizing Garmin smartwatches, the program captures a wide range of physiological metrics, including heart rate, sleep score, stress index, training readiness, respiration rate, body battery, step count, and high heart rate alerts, among other advanced data points.
In partnership with Vigilife, the department is actively engaged in the use of the Safeguard Live application. This platform enables both sworn and professional staff to monitor their biometric data in real time while on duty. The application also supports post-shift debriefing, allowing personnel to evaluate how operational stressors and environmental factors impacted them physiologically, thereby promoting greater self-awareness and performance optimization.
Serving Our Community with Courage, Integrity, and Innovation
1. Conceptualization Phase Understand stress
• Identify personal stressors and warning signs.
• Understand how thoughts, emotions, and physical reactions interact. • Reframe stress as a challenge that can be managed, not a catastrophe.
2. Skills Acquisition & Rehearsal Build tools
• Learn coping skills such as controlled breathing, self-talk, attention control, problem solving, and relaxation techniques.
• Practice these skills repeatedly in low-stress settings. • Develop “coping scripts” for anticipated high-pressure events.
3. Application & Follow-Through Train under pressure
• Apply coping skills during simulated or real stress exposures. • Increase stress intensity gradually.
• Conduct after-action reviews: What worked? What needs adjustment? Donald Meichenbaum, Ph.D.
Serving Our Community with Courage, Integrity, and Innovation
Serving Our Community with Courage, Integrity, and Innovation “I have been a user of the VigiLife application and wearables program since its inception at San Pablo PD. I have been able to use the program to improve my physical and mental wellness through a better understanding of my sleep, training and physiological responses during calls for service through the SafeGuard application. I have been able to utilize the data to improve my wellness at work and in my personal life.
I am a firm believer and supporter of the VigiLife program implemented by San Pablo PD and highly recommend it to all staff.”
“I had the opportunity to utilize a wearable during both my personal fitness routine and daily duties as a Police Officer. It quickly became much more than a fitness watch by providing valuable insights into my sleep, recovery, heart rate, and stress levels. The objective data from the VigiLife Safeguard application helped me improve my sleep habits, recovery, and overall stress management. On duty, the wearable allowed me to review my physiological responses during high-stress incidents such as vehicle pursuits and high-risk felony traffic stops. Combined with the wearable’s guided breathing feature, this information has helped me better manage stress and improve my response during critical situations. After daily use, I believe the wearable program and VigiLife are practical wellness tools that have improved my fitness, resilience, and self-awareness. Based on my experience, I believe this technology can positively impact officer health and wellness by promoting better recovery, stress management, and long-term resilience.” Officer Isaiah Howard
Patrol Officer and Former - Division I College Athlete
Master Officer Ernad Rosic
Lead Training Staff Member and Assistant SWAT Team Leader
Serving Our Community with Courage, Integrity, and Innovation “VigiLife has given me valuable insight into my overall health, wellness, and daily habits, helping me become much more self-aware of how my lifestyle affects my well-being. The features I find most beneficial are the ability to monitor the quality of my restful sleep throughout the work week and to analyze how my daily work activities influence my heart rate and stress levels. Reviewing this information each day has helped me identify patterns, make more informed decisions, and adopt healthier habits. As a result, I have been able to make meaningful changes that have improved my overall health and well-being.”
Jena Laguna
Jailer - Police Services Technician
“VigiLife is proud to partner with the San Pablo Police Department as it advances a forward-thinking approach to officer wellness, safety, and performance. Law enforcement is among the most physically and mentally demanding professions, and officers deserve access to the same science- backed technologies increasingly used in elite athletics, the military, and other high-performance industries. Through SafeGuard, we aim to give officers meaningful insights into their health, recovery, stress, exertion, and readiness, while providing department leadership with privacy- conscious, aggregate data to help strengthen wellness programs, training, and operational decision- making. We're especially excited to support department-wide deployment and the new Police Headquarters and Regional Training Center, where SafeGuard can play a meaningful role in fitness, recovery, training, and long-term officer wellness. San Pablo PD is setting an example by investing proactively in its people. We are honored to support an innovative program that helps officers stay healthier, more resilient, and ready to serve their community.” Zachary Kiehl
Founder & CEO at VigiLife
Serving Our Community with Courage, Integrity, and Innovation Authorization for the Cit y Manager to enter int o a 3-year agreement wit h Vigilife for the purchase of equipment, t raining, and software to expand and enhance officer wellness and t raining at a cost not to exceed $179, 700 Appropriation of $179 ,700 in funds from the Supplemental La w Enforcement Services Grant Revenue Fund (210- 0000- 00000)
St affrecommends the procurement of services from Vigilife be exempted from Cit ybidding requirements because : (1) the purchase involves specialized services combined wit h equipment and products, in which the Cit y procures equipment but must also ret ain specialized services for consulting on use, t raining, inst alling, maint aining, and servicing the products (San Pablo Municipal Code sect ion 3.16 .110 (B)); and (2) the unique software attri butes discussed above support the use of sole source agreements (San Pablo Municipal Code sect ion 3.16.110(C)).
Compliance Statement:
Strengthen existing and new Technology Programs, Public Facility/Infrastructure Projects, and Future Workplace Development Programs/Services to Enhance SPPD Crime-Reduction Goals, Community Policing, Mental Health and Training Programs is a priority goal under the FY 2023/25 City Council Priority Workplan, effective April 7, 2025.
Serving Our Community with Courage, Integrity, and Innovation