Nicole Bowers
Secretary
Nicole Bowers has worked at Plano Police Department as the Mental Health Coordinator since 2014. She provides follow-up to individuals who have contact with the police due to mental health crises and their family members/support system. One goal of this work is to connect people with resources in the community that can help support the person and their support system and help to mitigate future crises.
Nicole has developed and maintained partnerships between the police department and local behavioral health providers, hospitals, schools, and advocacy organizations through this work. She is a regular instructor for Texas Commission on Law Enforcement (TCOLE) 1850 Crisis Intervention Training and TCOLE 4001 Mental Health Peace Officer courses. She has presented at numerous local, state, and international conferences on mental health and law enforcement topics. Nicole serves on her department’s peer support team and advocates for first responder mental health. Nicole has been honored to receive several awards for her work from community partners and Plano Police Department throughout her time in this role, including; 2015 Dallas CIT Instructor of the Year, 2016 Collin County CIT Change Maker of the Year, 2018 Chief’s Unit Award, 2020 Meritorious Service Award, and 2021 Civilian Employee of the Year.
Nicole served on the Board of Directors for NAMI Collin County starting in 2014, helped oversee their merge with NAMI North Texas, and serves on the NAMI North Texas board as Secretary. Earlier in her career, Nicole worked for several years in inpatient behavioral health, first as a behavioral health tech in metro Detroit and later as a Treatment Manager at Medical City McKinney. Nicole earned her Masters of Social Work from Wayne State University in Detroit, MI, in 2010 and moved to Texas soon after graduation. Through her work in the law enforcement community and with NAMI, Nicole's goal is to help reduce the stigma of mental illness and increase accessibility to necessary resources for those who need them.