The National Wellbeing Service Oscar Kilo has launched mandatory suicide prevention training for managers, alongside trauma awareness sessions for all new recruits.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
“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.<\/p>\n
“There absolutely needs to be more intervention to address this, as well as greater awareness of how to recognise the warning signs.”<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
“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.<\/p>\n
“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.\u201d<\/p>\n