Indiana University Police Department social worker Conner Sturgeon talks first year

Tactical body armor isn't the normal work day attire for licensed social workers like Conner Sturgeon. He likes to keep it simple when he's in the office: a pair of khaki pants and a polo shirt. But that isn't always enough.

When the Indiana University Police Department is dispatched on campus, Sturgeon, IUPD's first social worker, sometimes finds himself strapping on a bulletproof vest while he rides along in the patrol car.

Though he's now been with the agency for a year, it's still a part of the routine that has yet to become ordinary.

"For (a police officer), it's a normal day, but for me, I get anxious," Sturgeon said. "Because you never know what we're walking into. Even though college campuses are traditionally very safe places, there's still that potential threat."

Sturgeon's role is to assist in a number of initiatives centered around community outreach, internal support, victim advocacy and on-scene de-escalation.

"The officer will ensure the scene's security and then I will kind of take over from there," Sturgeon said, adding the officer remains alert and ready on standby just in case.

Once the scene is secured and he's given the OK, the bulletproof vest comes off, allowing Sturgeon to get to work. He's a counselor to those in midst of a mental health crisis, an advocate for sexual assault or domestic abuse survivors, and a person who can steer a conversation and figure out the best resources.

It's a new angle of policing becoming more prevalent across the country.

Indiana University one of first to employ social worker in police department

IU is one of the first universities to have a licensed social worker directly employed by its campus police department. According to IU public information officer Hannah Skibba, the idea was first floated by the community itself.

“Our students, faculty and staff across campus were saying, ‘You know, with the increased amount of mental health calls that we have, how best can we respond to those students and get them the help that they need?’ And it's not always a police response, and we recognize that," Skibba said.

Having social work embedded in the police agency is not novel. The first example was in the 1970s in Illinois. That program didn't take off, and the idea laid more or less dormant until the notion resurfaced within the last few years.

The concept isn't new to Sturgeon. He focused his undergraduate capstone project on police social work.

“It's really hard to find research on (social work in policing) because the vast majority of social workers don't support it, up until recently. I mean, I've even been ridiculed by my colleagues and things like that for even being a part of a police department,” Sturgeon said.

Social workers and law enforcement often work in tandem due to the nature of their shared work. Oftentimes, both victims and perpetrators of crimes are in need of social services. Social workers visit clients in prison and jail. While responding to calls, police officers recommend social services resources in the community.

Working together can streamline the process for quick, holistic support. The Bloomington Police Department, which fully employed its first social worker in 2019, has applauded the embedded position for decreasing repeat calls and providing valuable services to not just community members but officers as well.

"As social problems continue to rise, (police social workers) can be the key to reducing some of the workload on officers and agencies while also working to bridge the gap between law enforcement and the community," Melissa Stone, senior police social worker with the Bloomington Police Department, wrote in a 2021 e-newsletter.

The city's department now has three social workers.

What does a police social worker do?

A lot of Sturgeon's work is identifying appropriate resources or reconnecting people to services they might have used previously. While police officers can also point toward resources, Skibba said past negative experiences with and different cultural perceptions of law enforcement can be a big barrier.

Early into his new role, Sturgeon was dispatched to a domestic violence call at the IMU. Sturgeon talked to the family, learning they were from another country and had an upcoming court hearing on their immigration status. In the meantime, though, they had no money or food. They also didn't have housing.

"There's a lot of things that an officer might not be able to connect them with, but I was able to get them transportation to an assisted living (facility) temporarily. I took them to Kroger myself and got funding, so we could get them food for the next few nights until they got into something more long-term," Sturgeon said. "And I continued to follow up with them as long as I could until they were able to get established and then go to their court hearing.”

This past academic year, he went on nearly 40 calls. Sturgeon also provides private counseling to students as well as IUPD officers.

"As a patrol officer, if I have a tough day, I have someone there that's willing to listen. Our department values that and expects me and encourages me to reach out if I need it," Skibba said. "I mean, there's (also) a lot of stuff that goes on in our personal lives that we bring to work with us.”

Future expansion of social work in IUPD

Sturgeon has made a lot of headway in his first year at IUPD, but he's interested in gaining more ground. Earlier this month, he presented to cadets at the IU police academy on what he does and how he hopes to expand social work services in the department. One goal is to increase his co-response with officers on calls related to mental health crises; another is to provide an alternative to hospitalizations.

He also wants to make it easier to facilitate accommodations for students who need help.

"For example, if I come in at 2 a.m. with someone who is sexual assault victim or domestic battery victim or whatever it might be, how can we, as I work with the university, get them accommodations for their next day or the rest of their week? They might not be ready to take that exam tomorrow because they were here till 4 a.m. and their exam is at 9 a.m.," Sturgeon said.

Reach Rachel Smith at rksmith@heraldt.com.

This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: Indiana University embeds social work in campus policing