{"id":4022,"date":"2019-01-29T11:34:57","date_gmt":"2019-01-29T11:34:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sypfcopperconnection.co.uk\/?p=4022"},"modified":"2019-01-29T11:34:57","modified_gmt":"2019-01-29T11:34:57","slug":"its-good-to-talk-struggling-officers-urged-to-reach-out-for-help","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sypfcopperconnection.co.uk\/?p=4022","title":{"rendered":"It’s good to talk – struggling officers urged to reach out for help"},"content":{"rendered":"

POLICE officers who are struggling with their mental health have been urged to contact South Yorkshire Police Federation to get the help they need, Chairman Steve Kent has said.<\/p>\n

He was speaking after a spate of deaths among colleagues nationally during a time in which wellbeing and morale in the police has hit \u201crock bottom\u201d.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Steve said: \u201cDrop us an email or give us a call – it is good to talk. We need to remove the stigma – for both men and women – and encourage people to talk to each other about how they\u2019re feeling. Supervisors need to encourage it as well.\u201d
\nThere is a host of resources available for officers struggling with depression, anxiety and other mental health issues, which the Federation can help them access.<\/p>\n

Steve said: \u201cThis is a hugely important issue. As a force we have introduced Backup Buddy, which is an app catered for officers to give guidance about what they might be feeling at the time. We as a force are positively making small steps about trying to deal with welfare, but there needs to be more of a national drive in terms of stress management and workload management. This ties in with resources and individual demand.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe also need to look at the regulations so we can provide more protection for officers to ensure they get their proper rest times and rest periods because the flavour I\u2019m getting from officers in South Yorkshire is that a lot of them are at breaking point.\u201d<\/p>\n

However, the force and Federation is now improving the way it manages this, Steve said, and the next step was to encourage sergeants, inspectors and managers to have more one-to-one meetings with their staff, to enquire about their mental health and make sure that they are not struggling.<\/p>\n

He added: \u201cMy message to anyone that is finding things difficult would be to talk. Talk to their colleagues, if they don\u2019t want to talk to their families about it, talk to their supervisors and if necessary come to the Federation. We\u2019ll always be happy to either point people in the right direction or look at trying to help them out.\u201d<\/p>\n