HAUNTED BY CHILD CRIME VICTIMS
IT was the victims of crime who haunted Paul Robson.
The faces of young, vulnerable children, sometimes subjected to the worst of humanity, kept appearing in his head at all hours.
The now-retired Geelong acting senior sergeant doesn’t remember when the night terrors started. There was no particular incident that left him unable to cope.
Instead, Mr Robson’s crippling post-traumatic stress disorder was the culmination of years spent with the force.
“In my case, it was the victims of crime that led to my PTSD,” he said. “I worked in some areas where the victims of crime were very young. They were children.”
He first noticed things weren’t right in 2004.
“I don’t remember a particular point — it just all built up and I couldn’t cope,” Mr Robson said.
He took time off work and saw a psychologist. Things seemed to get better. But news reports of incidents, particularly involving children, triggered Mr Robson’s stress.
Finally, he was left with no option but to leave.
The day Mr Robson handed in his police badge — in September 2016 — broke his heart.
Mr Robson has no doubt his time in the force cost him relationships and family time.
Now, he hopes current young police force members will fare better than him and his mates — and be more comprehensively supported.
“I don’t think (serving officers) get enough support,” he said.
He said there needed to be welfare services for police officers across the state, not just in Melbourne.
Mr Robson and fellow retired policeman Mick Cummins help run Geelong’s retired police office peer support program.
Mr Cummins worked in Melbourne and rural Victoria for 30 years before resigning in 2007.
“I was at the point where I knew I was unwell. I knew if I stayed and pursued stress leave it was going to make me worse,” he said.
Mr Cummins has no doubt serving members are taking additional leave because they are stressed.
“It’s an accumulation. We call it a bucket — once it fills to the brim and overflows you become unwell,” he said.
“I was in a state of denial. I’d go somewhere and it might’ve been where I’d been to a fatal (incident) and that’d trigger it.”
Mr Cummins has praised Chief Commissioner Graham Ashton for changing the culture of Victoria Police. But he believes more needs to be done.
Mr Robson hopes “boots on the ground police” are more involved in supporting other members.