VPT Performance<\/a>, a Tennessee-based physical therapy and performance group that recently visited San Antonio to work directly with officers.<\/p>\nThe group focuses on physical therapy, recovery, strength training and helping law enforcement officers maintain the physical capabilities needed to do their jobs.<\/p>\n
Kelly Ireland and Shannon Fennelly are physical therapists with VPT Performance. They traveled on behalf of VPT to work with SAPD last week. Ireland told KSAT that officers face unique physical challenges on a daily basis, and physical therapy can help with that.<\/p>\n
\u201cLow back pain is what we\u2019re seeing officers experience the most. It\u2019s also because of the vest they have to wear and the position it puts them in when they are responding to intense calls,\u201d Ireland said.<\/p>\n
Fennelly added that officers also can struggle to find time for recovery during long shifts and physically demanding work.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019re taking care of the police officer not just physically, but that also helps and bleeds into their mental well-being,\u201d Fennelly said. \u201cNow they\u2019re eating healthier, you\u2019re moving better, you\u2019re in less pain. You\u2019re sleeping better.\u201d<\/p>\n
SAPD officer Brent Vermeulen, who works with the department\u2019s Wellness Unit, said the program is designed specifically for officers and is separate from the department\u2019s Mental Health Unit.<\/p>\n
The department\u2019s performance recovery optimization program, or PRO, focuses on six areas of wellness: <\/p>\n
Physical<\/p>\n
Mental<\/p>\n
Spiritual<\/p>\n
Social<\/p>\n
Financial<\/p>\n
Tactical<\/p>\n
Vermeulen said the department is emphasizing physical wellness this year, including nutrition, fitness and overall health.<\/p>\n
\u201cPhysical fitness, not only physical fitness, but mental fitness,\u201d Vermeulen said. \u201cThat goes back to being physically in shape, mentally in shape, whether that being getting your sleep, your nutrition, all that kind of stuff in check.\u201d<\/p>\n
SAPD said officers can respond to between 10 and 20 calls a day, depending on their assignment and area. Vermeulen also support Fennelly\u2019s and Ireland\u2019s statement: Constant demands of the job can take a toll on an officer\u2019s all-around health.<\/p>\n
The department\u2019s Wellness Unit began a few years ago. Vermeulen said building trust with officers is key to getting them to use the resources available to them.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe only way to be 100% effective in doing that is to make sure that we take care of ourselves,\u201d Vermeulen said. \u201cIf we cannot take care of ourselves, how are we going to take care of our community?\u201d<\/p>\n
SAPD added the goal of expanding wellness services is to give officers more tools to take care of themselves while preparing them to better serve the San Antonio community.<\/p>\n
Read also:<\/p>\n
Copyright 2026 by KSAT – All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"SAN ANTONIO \u2013 The San Antonio Police Department is expanding the services available to officers through its Wellness…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":425682,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[584,2125,82,84,83,632],"class_list":["post-425681","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-antonio","tag-health","tag-mental-health","tag-san-antonio","tag-san-antonio-headlines","tag-san-antonio-news","tag-sapd"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/425681","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=425681"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/425681\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/425682"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=425681"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=425681"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=425681"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}