All New Police Recruits To Have Trauma Awareness Sessions

The National Wellbeing Service Oscar Kilo has launched mandatory suicide prevention training for managers, alongside trauma awareness sessions for all new recruits.

More than 100 police officers and staff died by suicide between 2022 and 2025, with a further 200 attempted suicides recorded during the same period, according to the National Police Federation of England and Wales.

The move has been welcomed by Steve Kent, Chair of the South Yorkshire Police Federation, who said: “Even if this saves one life, it is absolutely magnificent, so I wholeheartedly welcome it.

“We went through a period where five officers took their own lives. The impact on their families, colleagues and the wider force was devastating and the effects continue to ripple across the organisation.

“There absolutely needs to be more intervention to address this, as well as greater awareness of how to recognise the warning signs.”

Steve said officers who are subject to lengthy investigations can be particularly vulnerable to suicidal thoughts, and that forces have a responsibility to ensure those officers receive the support they need.

He said: “A lot of officers can speak from personal experience about the dark places they can end up in when they’re under investigation.

“People have come to see our counsellors and later told me that if they hadn’t made that appointment, they don’t know where they’d be now.

“It’s reassuring to hear that our support has made such a difference, but it’s also frightening. Without that intervention, those officers could have taken a very different path. That’s why the more awareness there is around this issue, the better.”