Dr. Cherylynn Lee is a police psychologist specializing in law enforcement operations and officer wellness. She has been a full-time employee with the Santa Barbara Sheriff’s Office since 2016. She currently manages the Behavioral Sciences Unit (BSU), which encompasses the Mental Health Co-Response Teams, Crisis Intervention Training, and Wellness Unit, which houses Peer Support. Dr. Lee also assists with threat assessment and management, serves on the crisis negotiation response teams for both the Santa Barbara Sheriff’s Office and the Santa Barbara Police Department, and teaches in the FBI 40-hour negotiations school 

As the sheriff’s office’s first full-time police psychologist, she provides consultation for mental health crisis calls and follows up on high-risk cases; she also assists the Intelligence Unit with behavior threat assessment and psychological autopsies. In 2018, Dr. Lee spearheaded the agency’s co-response program that pairs a CIT-trained deputy with a mental health clinician to respond to mental health crisis calls. The program has grown from one team to four.  

Dr. Lee is widely known for her expertise and is frequently requested to teach and consult as a subject matter expert with outside law enforcement agencies all over California. She has led dozens of critical incident stress debriefs for officer-involved shootings, line-of-duty deaths, and natural disasters and maintains a private practice where she exclusively treats first responders and specializes in trauma.  She sits on the California State Sheriffs Association wellness board, works with CA POST as a wellness subject matter expert, and contributes wellness articles to a number of police-related publications. 

“I am inspired daily to show up and give the profession the best  I have to offer because that is what our officers do for our communities.”