Credit: Anderson Photography
Policing Minister Sarah Jones has announced £2.4 million to expand mental health and trauma support for officers in a video message opening Day One of the Federation’s Annual Conference.
Ms Jones said that when help is needed, ‘it must be accessible, and it must be of the highest quality’. The funding, which she said would be provided this year, will go towards better trauma support, expanded psychological risk assessments to identify those at risk earlier, and round-the-clock access to confidential mental health support.
She has also asked His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary to examine the issue and identify where further improvements may be needed.
The announcement came as Ms Jones paid tribute to officers who have died in the last 12 months. “Today and always, we remember their sacrifice,” she said, adding: “We think of their loved ones, and we stand with the policing family.”
She spoke about attending the funerals of Cleveland Police Officers Matthew Blades and Tom Clough, and Northumbria Police’s Jess Turnbull, describing any death in the line of duty as ‘the most painful reminder’ of the risks officers face to keep the public safe.
Ms Jones praised officers for attending emergencies, arresting suspects, supporting victims and reassuring communities, saying she knew they did so out of ‘duty and commitment to a calling that is much more than a job’.
Her message followed an opening address from the Police Federation of England and Wales’ (PFEW) acting deputy national chair, Paul Williams.
Discussing the title of this year’s event – ‘The Real State of Policing’ – Paul said the reality is one of officers starting a shift exhausted from the last, of an unsustainable workforce being expected to fill the gaps left by others. He spoke about officers trying to be a mum, a dad, a husband, a wife and a friend at the end of it all.
“That’s the real state of policing,” he told delegates.
Over the course of the Conference, Paul said the Federation would speak honestly about the pressures facing members and their families, covering pay, welfare, working conditions, the future of the service, and what reform must mean for the people expected to deliver it. The Federation would also look at itself, he said, including where it had got things wrong and what it needed to change to represent members properly.
Behind every debate, statistic and headline, he said, are people who put on a uniform and accept responsibilities that most of the public will never have to carry.
Paul said the Federation also remembered colleagues lost through illness and, tragically, suicide. “Behind every one of those deaths is a family grieving,” he said, before asking everyone in the room to stand. The room then remembered this year’s Roll of Honour, which records officers who have died on duty.
This year’s Conference continues today (Wednesday 21 October) and tomorrow (Thursday 22 October).
We will be keeping members updated throughout the next two days.