Cop2Cop — Free 24/7 NJ Police Peer Crisis Helpline
Cop2Cop is the country’s only legislated statewide police crisis intervention helpline — established by New Jersey state law and operating since 2000 to provide peer and clinical crisis support to New Jersey law enforcement officers and their families. The helpline at 1-866-COP-2COP (267-2267) is staffed 24/7 by retired law enforcement peer counselors and licensed clinicians; calls are free and confidential. Cop2Cop has handled hundreds of thousands of calls from officers, their spouses and partners, and their children since its founding.
What to Expect
Callers to Cop2Cop are connected initially with a retired law enforcement peer counselor — someone who has lived the job and understands the cultural and operational context. Peer counselors provide immediate crisis support, listen without judgment, and assess what kind of follow-up makes sense. When clinical care is appropriate, Cop2Cop’s licensed clinicians provide assessments, brief interventions, and warm handoffs to long-term care through the program’s network of police-aware clinical providers. The program also offers critical incident stress management (CISM) deployments to departments after major incidents, peer support training, and family services for spouses and children of officers.
Who This Group Is For
Cop2Cop serves New Jersey law enforcement officers — municipal, county, state, federal officers working in NJ — plus their spouses, partners, and children. While the program is NJ-funded and primarily serves NJ officers, the model has been studied and adapted elsewhere; calls to Cop2Cop from out-of-state officers are received compassionately and referred to appropriate local resources. The retired-officer peer counselor model has been particularly successful and is being replicated in other states.
Why Peer Support Works
Law enforcement officers face cultural and occupational pressures that often discourage seeking help — concerns about fitness-for-duty, peer perception, and the broader stigma around mental health in policing. Cop2Cop’s peer-first model addresses that directly: the first voice on the line is another cop. Many callers describe relief at not having to explain what it’s like to do the job before getting to what’s wrong. The combination of peer support and warm clinical handoff means callers can move from initial conversation to ongoing care without the friction that often blocks help-seeking.
How to Join
Cop2Cop is free, confidential, and available 24/7. Call 1-866-COP-2COP (267-2267) anytime. Visit nj.gov/humanservices/dmhas/home/disaster/responder/cop2cop.html or njfop.org/cop2cop for additional information and resources. Departments looking to build their own peer support teams can also engage Cop2Cop for training and consultation.