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pressures of policing: high-stakes decisions, public scrutiny, and a culture where “tough” rhetoric from leaders clashes with the human reality of vulnerability. Officers facing probes describe isolation, endless delays, and perfunctory “box-ticking” welfare checks that fail at their darkest hours, turning a noble profession into a high-risk occupation unrecognized by the Office for National Statistics.


PFEW’S STAND PFEW National Chair Tiff Lynch pulls no punches: “The duty of care we hear so much about is little more than box- ticking, it’s killing our officers.” She lambasts political and police leaders for prioritising headlines over lives, insisting that compassion must underpin accountability without diluting standards. Personal stories, though anonymized for privacy, echo this: officers enduring year-long investigations amid mental health spirals, with welfare hotlines offering generic advice ill-suited to policing’s “unique risks.” Tiff added: “This silent crisis has to end.


Policing is a unique job carrying unique risks and officers know that the work they do will scar them mentally and physically. What they shouldn’t have to deal with is inadequate welfare support and a box-ticking approach to the duty of care forces have in their people. “The link between suicide and officers under investigation is a shocking indictment of the lack of compassion


and support in the misconduct regime. It reflects the misguided rhetoric of police leaders which has tipped too far into ‘who can sound the toughest’. “Those processes must hold officers to the highest of standards but they should not be killing officers. The most tragic part of that is that no one seems to care that it is.” The Federation’s data, gathered through tireless advocacy, underscores that without intervention, this toll will climb, eroding morale and recruitment in an already strained service.


• Chief Constables need to agree today to begin recording and reporting on


A BOLD SIX-POINT REFORM ROADMAP


• Police conduct regulations need to mandate a 12-month limit for


suicide and attempted suicide in the workforce. We believe this needs to be a requirement set out in law and support Lord Bailey’s amendment to the Crime and Policing Bill which would make recording and reporting mandatory.


• Health and Safety legislation needs to treat police suicide as an incident


• All forces should implement the Federation’s STEP (Suicide Trauma


Education Prevention) campaign, 09 | POLICE | FEBRUARY | 2026


disciplinary investigations into police officers, whether that is by the IOPC or police forces.


at work and therefore reportable and investigated under ‘RIDDOR’ rules.


• The coronial system needs to reflect the unique aggravating or contributory


• The Police Covenant needs to be funded to better support the welfare


factors of the role of police officers in suicide and ensure that the crisis is dealt with nationally rather than through a patchwork of “prevention of future deaths” reports after individual inquests.


and wellbeing of police officers in the same way that the Armed Forces Covenant and Covenant Trust does.


For more information about the Stay Alive app, visit stayalive.prevent-suicide.org.uk.


If you need help, speak to someone today:


• Call the Samaritans on 116 123 • Call the Mental Health Crisis Line for policing on 0300 131 2789 • Text SHOUT to 85258 – a free, 24/7, confidential mental health text support service


a new national initiative launched by Hampshire Police Federation and backed by PFEW. It aims to tackle the rising number of police officer suicides and exposing the often- unseen trauma officers face when repeatedly attending suicide incidents. It calls for mandatory TRiM (Trauma Risk Management) interventions for any officer attending a suicide and the down -loading by forces of the Stay Alive app.


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