England and Wales are \u201con the cusp of a mental health crisis\u201d in policing, South Yorkshire Police Federation has warned.<\/p>\n
Officers are repeatedly being exposed to trauma due to a lack of resources and available rest periods during shifts.<\/p>\n
The latest damning figures showed 25% of officers who attended Police Treatment Centres (PTC) were recovering from the emotional toll of the job.<\/p>\n
Referencing a potential mental health epidemic in policing, Federation Chair Steve Kent said: \u201cIt might drip in, then it might become a tap and then it might become a flood.<\/p>\n
\u201cI honestly think we are going to see serious numbers of our officers starting to break due to their mental health.<\/p>\n
\u201cTrauma, stress, the sheer weight of the workloads, the lack of proper rest periods – it is all concocting the perfect storm.\u201d<\/p>\n
Steve called for \u201curgent action\u201d to tackle the root cause of the issue, rather than having to build more PTCs reactively.<\/p>\n
He continued: \u201cWe need to change the narrative and start proactively supporting our colleagues in terms of their mental health.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo be blunt, we have an occupational health in our force. If it wasn\u2019t for the support we offer within the Federation, I don\u2019t think that would be sufficient.\u201d<\/p>\n
Officers involved in the Federation\u2019s group insurance scheme can benefit from chats with a trained professional two days a week.<\/p>\n
But even that service is now becoming oversubscribed.<\/p>\n
Steve added: \u201cWe\u2019re having to put extra days on because she\u2019s full.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are creaking in terms of all the officers who are coming to us, so that speaks volumes in itself.\u201d<\/p>\n