The shocking increase in male police officer suicides across the Uk.

Why very little is being done to address officer’s mental health and well being.

It has been reported that more police officers across the United Kingdom lose their life to suicide than being killed in the line of duty. What sadly is even more shocking, is that on a whole, nothing is really being done to address this and even worse is knowing that some forces do not even count the officers who have actually taken their own life-just what message does that send out?

Official figures published by the Office of National Statistics in England and Wales revealed that between 2011 to 2019- 163 police officers lost their lives to suicide. Out of this 163-146 were men and 17 were women.

Several months ago, a police officer in his 20s lost his life. The tragedy of this left his colleagues devastated, but where was their support? Working as officers do in a team each day and specifically the long hours officers do on our streets everyday, frequently means they spend more time with their colleagues than their family and friends. So, when an officer loses his life in these awful circumstances, it is expected that his colleagues will feel that loss. Officers who have had years of experience and have witnessed many traumatic events, are left on their knees knowing that their colleague has ended his life in this manner. Yet, their support goes missing.

It has been reported that whilst the average person will face between three and four traumatic events in their life, police officers deal with between 400 to 600 hundred traumatic events.

As members of the public, most of whom are on social media, we can all acknowledge just what is happening across our streets today. The increase in violence is vast. Knives are now standard practice. Removing these knives daily from those freely brandishing them and happy to use them is what officers do. They also stay with young victims who have been stabbed and desperately try and perform life saving first aid. Another common incident across our streets. Once again for us, we may perhaps shake our head at the ongoing knife crime and many have gone passed caring. Yet, for police officers who do this daily, there will come a day when that glass becomes full and the impact of years of trauma takes its toll.

Trauma can hide for many years until it makes its presence known and unless it begins to be dealt with-it will remain.Cracks in the windscreen start to show. Perhaps the car is still driveable and officers despite not feeling themselves, will continue to be on our streets as ultimately that is the job they love doing the most.

This is when urgent intervention is required to support these officers.

There are many reasons why police officers develop post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and complex PTSD. We know 1 in 5 suffers with PTSD now, yet so many are still on our streets doing the best job that they possibly can.

These officers’ needs may vary from professional intervention to a chat from someone willing to listen and hear them out.

We expect a great deal from our officers today, the pressures from social media seem to be clearly defining their job roles now. Supporting their mental health is vital.

Behind every uniform is a person, a person who may have well witnessed more horrors than most and still comes out to do their job each day. A person who still puts the community first despite not being in the best place themselves.

Address officer’s mental health and well being, support them, take the time to ask how they are after a long day and do not assume because they are there, that everything is ok.

Stay up to date with all of our latest updates and content by following us on our social media accounts!

We have created community pages where we will share our up-to-date stories happening in the area. Add the area closest to where you live.

Support Local Journalism
We at The Havering Daily appreciate your support of quality journalism. Your generous donation, no matter the size, allows us to continue bringing unbiased and informative news to the community. Your contribution helps us maintain our independence and allows us to continue providing high-quality journalism. Thank you for valuing the work we do and for supporting our mission

Thank you