Call for police mental health to be top priority

THE mental health of police officers should be a key priority for the government, all police forces and police federations.

That’s the message from Hampshire Police Federation chair Zoe Wakefield as she discussed the importance of Mental Health Awareness Week and police officers looking after themselves.

Zoe said: ‘The statistics are shocking in relation to the number of trauma incidents police officers attend compared to the public. Police officers attend 600-800 traumatic incidents compared to the general public who experience four-six in their lifetime.

‘This is always going to have an impact especially when you factor in shift work, poor pay and negative stories in the media.

‘All forces should be proactive in their approach by using tools such as psychological screening for all officers.

‘Most forces do this now for specialist roles but it should be across the board with the relevant treatment and support in place when officers score highly.

‘Locally as a federation, we provide services such as float therapy and welfare breaks to our lodges at Sandy Balls Holiday Park. We also run a support group for police officers whose police officer partners suffer with PTSD. Sadly we have a good membership of this group.

‘The upcoming Police Covenant will hopefully improve the mental health provision for police officers.’

According to a recent Police Federation survey, 69 per cent of officers who responded reported they have experienced difficulties with their mental health and wellbeing over the last 12 months that were either caused or exacerbated by work.