Chicago police officer sharing love of gardening to help fellow cops with self-care

A beautiful garden is growing on the West Side of Chicago, and it has become a magnet for police officers drawn to the healing power of plants and flowers.

When a gardener like Deronis Cooper cares for plants, he takes care of himself, too.

"This kind of is just my complete escape, my release. It gives me the opportunity to get out here, get with the Earth, even early in the morning," Cooper said.

Years ago, he planted a garden outside his Garfield Park home.

"I call it my grandma's garden. It was my garden that I dedicated to my grandmother," he said.

The garden grows new admirers every day, like Carmen Navarro Gercone and Wey-ni Langdon.

"The connection, it feels fabulous," Gercone said.

"It's a release. It's gorgeous. The colors, like, it's serene," Langdon said.

Most days, Cooper plants and prunes by himself, but on Wednesday, he invited guests who understand his other line of work. He's been a Chicago police officer for more than 25 years.

Now a consultant in law enforcement training, Gercone worked for the Cook County Sheriff's Office for 27 years.

Langdon, a former CPD officer, is now an investigator with the Cook County State's Attorney's Office.

Gercone and Langdon are leaders of a nonprofit called Women of the Shield.

"We help young women who want to get into law enforcement, or are thinking about a career in law enforcement, and try to provide them with the tools and the resources that we didn't have when we came on," Gercone said.

They came to Cooper' garden to learn new tactics for self-care.

"A person's not going to know what it's like until they're in it," Langdon said.

"We're trying to normalize that; like, it's okay to be afraid," Gercone said.

These officers know the job can be unrelenting and unpredictable.

"Sometimes, you're going to see things at work that you can't process," Cooper said. "You need some way to decompress and allow yourself to calm down, and this is what has helped me out."

"You can't share your work day, and sometimes that gets frustrating, and your family starts to feel alienated," Gercone said.

"Going to work, dealing with what we deal with, it's not normal," Langdon said.

Now a cop with a green thumb can help his sisters in blue.