After years of dealing with traumatic incidents one officer decided he did not want to be here any longer-Why it is urgent that we support our police officers’ mental health right now.

There are however, so many decent officers trying so hard to really make a difference that really need the support right now. It is time these officers are backed and supported before we lose so many brave individuals who really do an outstanding job on our streets each day. Do not turn your back on all officers, without them our community would be lost.

Across the country there are literally thousands of police officers who suffer severe trauma impacts due to their job and the horrors they face repeatedly.

For most of us who encounter a horrendous situation our first thought is to call the police. Regardless of just how utterly atrocious the event is, the immediate response is-dial 999. What the majority of us fail to then consider is, just what happens to the officers who come face to face with these disturbing images constantly.

After years of dealing with brutal deaths, one former officer woke up one morning and could not deal with the severity of working over 200 deaths, and felt that his life had concluded. Fortunately, he was saved and he is still here to help others who now face the burden of a heavy suitcase that became his mind on a daily basis.

Cases of poor mental health are currently impacting every single police force across the country. Men in particular who do not feel comfortable sharing the fact that their mind is not quite working as they believe it should. Waking up to the realisation that what they could cope with previously, had now become Mount Everest to climb and just getting up everyday and going to work was a huge challenge in itself. Sadly this is now a common occurrence for so many officers.

A frequent scenario is the tidal wave of stabbings officers respond to. The majority of times officers are the first responders to a stabbing and it is them who desperately perform life saving first aid and try and reassure the young person lying on the street that they will make it. But how many do not? What sadness do they feel watching that life go right in front of them as they hold the youth for the very last few minutes of their life? These are all factors that are not considered by the general public as we accept that it is after all, the police’s job. At what cost to that officer’s mental health? What scars do they then have etched on their memory that sits quietly and becomes the word ‘trauma’.

The rise in officers suffering PTSD we know is now 1 in 5. The level of violence on our streets increases each day, the work load and pressures officers are put under has more than doubled. The constant pressure by social media, politicians and even their own management has meant that officers now more than ever, really need mental health support. Yet sadly so many do not come forward and suffer in silence.

For most of the public it is seen as just another job. If you think like that-I challenge you do go on a ride-a-long with officers and witness first hand just what these officers have to deal with. For what you see and are horrified with on just one shift, for them is their job and they do daily.Nothing can prepare you for the horrors you face as a police officer. You cannot predict what the next call will be or if it could potentially be your last.

Knife crime, murders, domestic violence, rape, child abuse, the list is long and the horrors are endless. Yes, they have chosen to do this job because the majority actually want to make a positive difference in our community and they do. However, it is time now that they receive the right mental health support.

There is an endless army of keyboard cowards who happily sit and type abuse at officers. The question to ask then, is how long would you last doing their job?

Of late, numerous officers have bought the policing profession into disrepute. Disgusting individuals who should never have been allowed to join or thrive as they did. These rightly should be called out and changes do need to be made urgently. There are however, so many decent officers trying so hard to really make a difference that really need the support right now. It is time these officers are backed and supported before we lose so many brave individuals who really do an outstanding job on our streets each day. Do not turn your back on all officers, without them our community would be lost.

Next time you see an officer on the street, ask yourself what they could have witnessed that day or the day before, how many lives they may have saved? It really is time the decent officers were supported and given the right mental health support they desperately need.

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