Trudy Jacobson is a philanthropist, former Fortune 200 CEO, a dear friend of Law Enforcement Today, and a strong supporter of the law enforcement and military community. As a retired CEO, she now focuses on highlighting women across America doing incredible things personally and professionally - a series called Great American Women.
As a supporter of the law enforcement community, Trudy took it a step forward to highlight American women who are making incredible achievements within the law enforcement profession.
Now, Trudy Jacobson and Law Enforcement Today present a Great American Warrior, Katherine Boyle.
--
There is a growing movement to recognize and improve mental health among the law enforcement community. Professionals and experts all agree that police officers are far more prone to suffering from mental health issues compared to their civilian counterparts.
Daily calls to extremely high-stress environments are a large part of the problems for officers' mental health. Sprinkle in the historical lack of support from the public, many politicians, and mainstream media.
That's a lot to deal with.
This awareness for mental health improvement among cops is designed to help them cope with the challenges of the job so they can be more productive and live a healthier lifestyle.
However, those who are often forgotten about in the process are the families of the police officers. A stressed-out police officer may have poor coping skills like alcohol abuse, which can lead to a host of other problems. It is the families who must deal with the ramifications of cops under constant stress.
But one woman is looking to fix that - Katherine Boyle, founder of Beyond the Uniform.
Katherine was raised in a cop family and wanted to find ways to help law enforcement but didn't know how until recently.
"I've always wanted to do something to support the police, and I never really knew what that could look like. I wanted something that was very boots on the ground, in the thick of it with them so that they knew that I was there. I'm a civilian, and I want to support them," Katherine told LET in an exclusive interview.
The riots of 2020 changed everything for her.
"I was in New York City at the time. And I was very impacted by what I was seeing on social media on the news from some of the people that I once called friends. And every time I would see a post, all I could think about was, 'That's someone's dad, mother, brother, child' - I couldn't understand how these people [police officers] were expected to go home at the end of the 24-hour shift," Katherine said.
Katherine decided she needed to find a way to help law enforcement but needed to learn how. So, she got to work interviewing officers.
The LEO Family
Katherine's father was a cop and a family man. She recalls how he was always there for her. However, after speaking to countless officers, she learned that many of them put their jobs ahead of their families – which concerned her.
"Unfortunately, it's pretty common for the family to take a back seat. After hearing them have revelations on these calls with me, I was like, 'This has to change.' I have to do something about this family dynamic and support the people in that realm. So I got the idea to support police officers who do want to connect with their kids and their spouses and maybe don't know how," Katherine said.
And she accomplishes her mission by helping law enforcement families connect.
"A big part of that is connecting the families and then connecting them to one another so that they know that they're not alone in this desire to want more for themselves and their families," she said.
Beyond the Uniform
Katherine's organization, Beyond the Uniform, started recently in July of 2023 but has already had an impact. She has organized several social events for law enforcement families.
"I'll bring in speakers, maybe they're former police officers or active police officers who have stories of their own to share. Or I'll bring in people who work in the mental health field," she said. "Earlier this year, I had a financial Wellness event where someone came in to talk about budgeting for law enforcement families, and she also happened to be a law enforcement wife."
Katherine plans to continue growing the organization and offer more events for 2024. She wants to include everything from smaller online events to weekend retreats. Her goals are ambitious, and she is well on her way to something special.
"In March, I'm going to have another law enforcement officers and spouses in-person workshop again where I'll bring in people to speak, talk about how to communicate with your kids, how to share stories with your kids, check in with them, make sure that they're not kind of getting 'lost in the sauce,'" she said. "I plan on having an event specifically for cops who want the freedom to talk about things, but maybe they don't want anyone else in their personal lives present."
Her focus will be to enhance and improve the lives of the officers, their spouses, and especially the children.
“I will be doing events for kids, too! Events for law enforcement parents and their kid(s) to attend together. The goal is to cultivate a deeper connection, create lasting memories, and opportunities for the LEO parents to actively participate in their kids' lives,” Katherine added.
She continues speaking with officers and family members and understands the need for added services to help them. She has seen the demands imposed on her father as a career law enforcement officer, but also understands that it is possible to balance work and family so that everybody wins.
"I've had people tell me that they woke up one day retired and realized that they didn't know who their kids were," she said.
If that sounds familiar to you as a cop or a family member, then Beyond the Uniform is for you.
Katherine is dedicated to improving the lives of LEOs and their families, and nothing will stop her. That is why Law Enforcement Today selected Katherine Boyle as the next Great American Warrior.
Follow Katherine Boyle on Instagram @theLTSdaughter, check out her website at www.beyondtheuniform.co, and connect with her on LinkedIn.
As a supporter of the law enforcement community, Trudy took it a step forward to highlight American women who are making incredible achievements within the law enforcement profession.
Now, Trudy Jacobson and Law Enforcement Today present a Great American Warrior, Katherine Boyle.
--
There is a growing movement to recognize and improve mental health among the law enforcement community. Professionals and experts all agree that police officers are far more prone to suffering from mental health issues compared to their civilian counterparts.
Daily calls to extremely high-stress environments are a large part of the problems for officers' mental health. Sprinkle in the historical lack of support from the public, many politicians, and mainstream media.
That's a lot to deal with.
This awareness for mental health improvement among cops is designed to help them cope with the challenges of the job so they can be more productive and live a healthier lifestyle.
However, those who are often forgotten about in the process are the families of the police officers. A stressed-out police officer may have poor coping skills like alcohol abuse, which can lead to a host of other problems. It is the families who must deal with the ramifications of cops under constant stress.
But one woman is looking to fix that - Katherine Boyle, founder of Beyond the Uniform.
Katherine was raised in a cop family and wanted to find ways to help law enforcement but didn't know how until recently.
"I've always wanted to do something to support the police, and I never really knew what that could look like. I wanted something that was very boots on the ground, in the thick of it with them so that they knew that I was there. I'm a civilian, and I want to support them," Katherine told LET in an exclusive interview.
The riots of 2020 changed everything for her.
"I was in New York City at the time. And I was very impacted by what I was seeing on social media on the news from some of the people that I once called friends. And every time I would see a post, all I could think about was, 'That's someone's dad, mother, brother, child' - I couldn't understand how these people [police officers] were expected to go home at the end of the 24-hour shift," Katherine said.
Katherine decided she needed to find a way to help law enforcement but needed to learn how. So, she got to work interviewing officers.
The LEO Family
Katherine's father was a cop and a family man. She recalls how he was always there for her. However, after speaking to countless officers, she learned that many of them put their jobs ahead of their families – which concerned her.
"Unfortunately, it's pretty common for the family to take a back seat. After hearing them have revelations on these calls with me, I was like, 'This has to change.' I have to do something about this family dynamic and support the people in that realm. So I got the idea to support police officers who do want to connect with their kids and their spouses and maybe don't know how," Katherine said.
And she accomplishes her mission by helping law enforcement families connect.
"A big part of that is connecting the families and then connecting them to one another so that they know that they're not alone in this desire to want more for themselves and their families," she said.
Beyond the Uniform
Katherine's organization, Beyond the Uniform, started recently in July of 2023 but has already had an impact. She has organized several social events for law enforcement families.
"I'll bring in speakers, maybe they're former police officers or active police officers who have stories of their own to share. Or I'll bring in people who work in the mental health field," she said. "Earlier this year, I had a financial Wellness event where someone came in to talk about budgeting for law enforcement families, and she also happened to be a law enforcement wife."
Katherine plans to continue growing the organization and offer more events for 2024. She wants to include everything from smaller online events to weekend retreats. Her goals are ambitious, and she is well on her way to something special.
"In March, I'm going to have another law enforcement officers and spouses in-person workshop again where I'll bring in people to speak, talk about how to communicate with your kids, how to share stories with your kids, check in with them, make sure that they're not kind of getting 'lost in the sauce,'" she said. "I plan on having an event specifically for cops who want the freedom to talk about things, but maybe they don't want anyone else in their personal lives present."
Her focus will be to enhance and improve the lives of the officers, their spouses, and especially the children.
“I will be doing events for kids, too! Events for law enforcement parents and their kid(s) to attend together. The goal is to cultivate a deeper connection, create lasting memories, and opportunities for the LEO parents to actively participate in their kids' lives,” Katherine added.
She continues speaking with officers and family members and understands the need for added services to help them. She has seen the demands imposed on her father as a career law enforcement officer, but also understands that it is possible to balance work and family so that everybody wins.
"I've had people tell me that they woke up one day retired and realized that they didn't know who their kids were," she said.
If that sounds familiar to you as a cop or a family member, then Beyond the Uniform is for you.
Katherine is dedicated to improving the lives of LEOs and their families, and nothing will stop her. That is why Law Enforcement Today selected Katherine Boyle as the next Great American Warrior.
Follow Katherine Boyle on Instagram @theLTSdaughter, check out her website at www.beyondtheuniform.co, and connect with her on LinkedIn.
For corrections or revisions, click here.
The opinions reflected in this article are not necessarily the opinions of LET
Comments