BEAUFORT, S.C. () One foundation is on a mission to better the mental and physical health of our police officers. The city of Beaufort is the second police force chosen across the entire nation. Today, the unveiling of a new gym inside the department shows the foundations’ first steps toward an overall healthier department.

“We want to bring all that negativity down and help officers cope with the stress that they’re under and give them the tools to do that,” said Andrew Cummings, the chairman of the board for the Cummings Foundation for Behavioral Sciences.

The new gym is just one part of the Cummings Foundation for Behavioral Science’s overall goal with the Beaufort Police department.

“We want to collect data.  We want to design the best wellness program for a police department and prove that it works and export that to other communities,” said Cummings.

Cummings said there is overwhelming data showing that officers are under enormous amounts of stress due to the nature of their job. This leads to problems at home with family, depression and one of the highest rates of suicide in a profession.

“The model is a holistic model. It’s based on psychological principles of basic human needs and the things that we need to motivate us to do well in life and to reach certain goals in life,” said Davena Longshore, the researcher and designer of the program.

She said mixing physical exercise, plus added mental health check-ins will help the officers get the full effect of the program.

“We want to help serve them and help decrease the incidence of trauma, stress related disorders and other mental health symptoms that come along with being an officer so that they can better serve the community.”

The foundation is also looking to get community partners involved. Beaufort County resident and chief of staff for the foundation, Dr. David Baker, said through the partnerships, they will be able to provide additional mental and physical health resources for those local officers.