NEWS
management policies by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) means patterns aren’t noticed.
It is not the first time demands have been made for the HSE to recognise, record and take action to prevent work- related suicides. Previously, the death of headteacher Ruth Perry, who took her own life in January 2023 while awaiting the results of an Ofsted inspection, sparked calls for the regulator to make work-related suicides reportable under the RIDDOR regulations. Wellbeing standards
across the 43 forces are also postcode lottery for police officers currently and a set of minimum standards must be made mandatory, rather than guidance. This includes better training for line managers and compulsory psychological risk assessments for frontline roles. PFEW Wellbeing Lead Paul Williams
sickness absence of any profession. This shows how trauma accumulates over months and years if left unaddressed. “We are facing a legacy of poor
mental health because problems are not tackled early, and there is no consistent infrastructure in policing to prevent harm. Prevention is always better than cure. “The NHS is under huge strain, so
access to counselling is very limited. Officers are leaving the service because of unaddressed mental health issues. As
“Without my new employer’s support and occupational health, I don’t believe I’d still be here.”
said: “Behind each mental health condition is an officer enduring immense trauma. It affects not just them, but their families, relationships and careers – and it can be devastating. “Over a career, a police officer may experience 400–600 traumatic incidents, compared with just a handful for most civilians. Policing now has the highest rates of mental health-related
part of our ‘Copped Enough’ campaign, we are not only pressing for fair pay but also for stronger mental health support to be made available across all forces. It is the responsibility of all chief constables to ensure welfare provisions are met.” Ben Pearson, who served with West
Yorkshire Police for 19 years before he was medically retired due to complex post- traumatic stress disorder, said too little was being done to mitigate the impact on officers of attending repeat tragedies. ”You see things that you wouldn’t wish upon anybody, things that would make normal people have nightmares and
you’re expected to go back daily,” he told Channel 4 News. “Hangings, dead bodies, people hit by
trains, dead children – the pain on your chest just becomes that unbearable. You can’t expect people to be robots – they’re all humans beyond uniform and they just want to do the job, go and spend time with their families. We don’t need to be losing good officers.”
Our own figures show more than half of officers who had died by suicide since 2022 were under investigation, a red flag which clearly demonstrates why all chief constables should be focusing on adopting standardised risk assessments and stronger welfare support.
A former police officer, who
asked for his name to be withheld to protect his children’s privacy, said he required NHS crisis support for suicidal thoughts while under investigation for more than two years. No further criminal action was taken following his arrest, but he was later dismissed for gross misconduct after being found to have taken on another job while he was suspended as the investigation was ongoing. He explained to us his mental health nurse highlighted how vital the structure of employment is to aid his mental health recovery, which left him with the difficult decision of
Photos here and left courtesy of Channel 4 News
09 | POLICE | OCTOBER | 2025
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54
