Police suicides spark calls for better trauma care

The Surrey Police Federation (SPF) says it is backing calls for improved trauma support for officers after saying three officers in the county took their own lives last year.

The Suicide Trauma Education Prevention (Step) campaign is demanding mandatory trauma management sessions for officers who attend suicide incidents.

Officers who attend such traumatic scenes are then at a greater risk of dying by suicide themselves, according to the SPF.

It is currently up to each force to decide how it manages trauma risk, however the National Police Wellbeing Service (NPWS) says it "strongly recommends" every officer exposed to trauma receives support.

Darren Pemble, chairman of the SPF, is backing mandatory support sessions and calling for greater monitoring of officers.

"We need the technology and software to track the trauma that officers are being subjected to," he said.

At Sussex Police, a points-based system is used to flag if officers have been exposed to multiple traumatic events over short periods of time.

Surrey Police confirmed it would be adopting the points system in April.

Adrian Rutherford, director of people services at Surrey and Sussex Police, said it is reviewing its approach to trauma support in Surrey, but insists support is available for officers after traumatic incidents.

He said: "In Surrey we have support available for officers and staff in response to traumatic incidents. This has been assessed against the National Suicide Prevention Action Plan, led by the National Police Chiefs' Council.

"We are also assessing ourselves against the recommendations within the Suicide Trauma Education Prevention (Step) campaign."

There were 242 deaths of serving police officers and PCSOs in England and Wales between 2011 and 2022.

The SPF said the number of officer suicides is on the rise. Three officers from Surrey Police died by suicide between 2018 and 2023 - the same number died in 2024 alone.

If you are affected by any of the issues raised in this story, support and advice is available via the BBC Action Line.

A spokesperson for the NPWS said the mental health of police officers is of "critical importance" and that its National Suicide Prevention Action Plan sets out minimum standards of support that should be provided following traumatic incidents.

The National Police Chiefs' Council says it is "committed to supporting the psychological wellbeing of our people, working closely with leading experts and with the dedicated occupational health teams in forces".

The Home Office has been approached for a comment.

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