Worcester Woman Developing App For Police Officers In Crisis

WORCESTER (CBS) - "My son came home from school one day and he said, 'Mom, why did somebody at school tell me that police kill people for no reason?'"

That is the difficult question that sent Karen Solomon on a mission to tell law enforcement stories. The mother of two and wife to a Worcester police officer decided to write a book, "Hearts Beneath the Badge", detailing the good deeds done by police officers.

"That's when I said, 'you know what? I'm going to write a book and I'm going to tell some stories about all the good things people forget they do. They buy meals, they save people's lives, they put themselves in jeopardy,'" Solomon said.

Next, Solomon says, she was approached by officers to write another book telling the darker side of policing including the pain and anxiety that can come from the job. Solomon wrote, "The Price They Pay", and decided she needed to go further.

Solomon developed a website called 1stHelp.Net.

1stHelp.Net provides over a hundred resources to first responders experiencing mental, physical, or financial crises. The site asks user to click on where they live, their profession, and what kind of help they need before it directs them to a list of organizations.

Solomon says she was driven by the fact that many of the officers she interviewed for her books did not know where to seek help or were too afraid to.

"The families don't seem to want to admit to each other that they're experiencing pain and suffering because of the job," Solomon said.

Law enforcement therapist Jeff Zeizel says the timing is right for such a website to help a profession that struggle with mental health issues.

"Law enforcement has one of the highest rates of divorce, alcoholism, and suicide," Zeizel said.

1stHelp.Net is mobile friendly and Solomon is now working to develop it into a phone app.