This document discusses mental health issues among emergency services personnel like police officers. It summarizes the following key points: - Research found that 9 in 10 emergency services staff have experienced stress or mental health issues. Police officers are less likely to take time off for stress but are still impacted. - The charity Mind received funding to provide a new support program for emergency services through initiatives like a helpline and "Blue Light Champions" to challenge stigma. - The story of a police officer, Ed Simpson, is featured, who suffered depression and thoughts of suicide from his work until taking time off for mental health reasons. He now advocates for opening up about such issues. - National police representative Jayne Willet

1. POLICE
The Police Federation of England & Wales www.polfed.org
September 2015
Speaking
out about
stress
Why Sgt Ed Simpson is backing a new Mind campaign to
tackle stress and mental health issues in the service
n Federation warns new round of budget cuts could leave policing in crisis

2. 5 Editorial
Ignorance on impact of cuts is ‘sobering’, say MPs
Lack of ‘appropriate adults’ to safeguard rights of
mentally vulnerable adults
6 View from the chair: Steve White warns that more policing
volunteers won’t paper over the cracks in resources
Bravery Awards highlight the courageous acts of officers
7 Local Focus: Tom Cuddeford, deputy chair of West
Midlands Police Federation
8 New round of cuts prompts Federation calls to look at
‘radical’ solutions to funding crisis
10 The Station Sergeant is... Declaring an interest
Deaths in custody combated by Formula 1 team approach
11 Computer-based APP custody training fails to
engage officers
12 Officers must take more development ‘responsibility’
14 The Bigger Picture: Female officers head to Cardiff for
the IAWP centenary
16 Light at the end of the tunnel
Research by mental health charity Mind found nine
in 10 emergency services staff and volunteers have
experienced stress or mental health issues; now a new
support programme is helping to challenge mental
health stigma
20 Supporting women in policing
As women police officers from over 30 countries
came together at the International Association of
Women in Police (IAWP), Federation representatives
spoke about what they do to support officers in the UK
13 Dogberry: the lighter side of policing
24 Members’ benefits
26 View from the sidelines: Clive Chamberlain,
former chair of Dorset Police Federation,
takes a different look at life
Nick O’Time cartoon
27 Sudoku
September 2015 POLICE 13
POLICE September 2015 – in this issue:
NEWS & COMMENT
FEATURES
REGULARS
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p11
p6
p16
Editor:
Syreeta Lund
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Tel: 01372 352000
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The views expressed within
the magazine are not
necessarily the views of the
Joint Central Committee of the
Police Federation of England
and Wales.
Chair
Steve White
General Secretary:
Andy Fittes
Treasurer:
Martyn Mordecai
Vice-Chair:
Will Riches
Deputy General Secretary:
Andy Ward
Deputy Treasurer:
Geoff Stuttaford
© The Police Federation 2015
Reproduction strictly forbidden
unless by prior arrangement with
the publishers.
Cover picture:
© Mind

3. 16 POLICE September 2015 www.polfed.org
n FEATURES
Admitting you are suffering from mental health
issues can be a tall order for anyone, but research
by mental health charity Mind found nine in 10
emergency services staff and volunteers have
experienced stress, low mood and poor mental
health at some point.
Police officers may be more likely to suffer from
stress but they are less likely to take time off
because of it, says Mind. Nationally, one in 20
police officers took time off sick in the last
financial year – that is 6,278 officers. A Freedom
of Information request asked forces how many
officers took sick leave for depression, anxiety,
stress or post-traumatic stress disorder in the
financial year ending March 2015. In 23 forces
there was an increase in the number of officers
signed off.
The charity has been given £4m from the LIBOR
fund – money raised through fines imposed on
banks for misdemeanours and trying to
manipulate financial markets – to provide a new
programme of support for emergency services staff
and volunteers, including the police service.
A Blue Light Infoline has already been set up to
offer confidential, independent and practical
support, advice and signposting around mental
health and well-being to emergency service staff,
volunteers and their families in England.
Among a number of initiatives under the
programme is the opportunity to become a
Blue Light champion. These are the employees or
volunteers in the emergency services, who take
action in the workplace to raise awareness of
mental health problems and challenge mental
health stigma.
Jayne Willetts, the Federation lead on mental
health issues in relation to welfare involved in the
Blue Light Programme, said that many officers stay
silent when they are suffering. “We have a lot of
officers who suffer from mental health issues and
are fearful of admitting it because they feel it is a
risk factor in their job and they are not aware of
any support,” explained Jayne. “We can end up
being the very last place they turn to for help,
rather than the first. There is still a stigma around
mental health and that is something we need to
challenge.”
You can show support for the programme by
spreading the word on Twitter – follow
@MindBlueLight and use the hashtag #mybluelight
Light at the end of the tunnel
Pictures©mangojuicy/Shutterstock

4. www.polfed.org September 2015 POLICE 17
FEATURES n
When faced with the grieving parents of a young
boy in a mortuary, Ed Simpson felt something
inside him change. After 15 years as a front-line
officer and seven as a family liaison officer,
something had been happening that he was
unaware of. The job and the gravity of what he
had to deal with were chipping away at his well-
being and resilience.
“When the mother saw the body she just
screamed; it completely destroyed me,” said Ed, as
he spoke to officers at the Police Federation’s
National Custody Seminar this month.
He said that his facade as a police officer
completely disintegrated. “She was just shouting
at her son, ‘why are you cold, what have you done
to yourself?’.
“I was vulnerable in that room then; I cried for
the first time as a police officer on duty; I cried
with the family and I cried on my way home.”
The 39-year-old officer from North Yorkshire had
just had a baby with his wife and put it down to
becoming a dad and a police officer. “I thought I
just needed to learn how to become a dad and a
cop. I went on to get promoted, I knew there were
some emotional problems there and I didn’t like
talking about that job. But little things would
really affect me. I thought there was nothing
wrong with me; it was just that other people
coped better than me.”
In 2012, he volunteered to work in custody to be
closer to home as his wife fell pregnant again. By
this point he was in a spiral, “It was the endless
revolving door of people coming in with problems
we could not solve. I am a caring kind of guy, I
wanted to carry on and just keep going, and it had
an immense impact on me. I just thought
‘everyone else is strong and I am weak’. I fell into
self-doubt and I was terrible, checking things
constantly. I began checking records in custody
thinking I had been responsible for someone’s
death. I just took everything on, like a donkey,
‘Things just turned
to dust’
Ed Simpson, former
custody officer
“I was
vulnerable in
that room
then; I cried for
the first time
as a police
officer on duty;
I cried with the
family and I
cried on my
way home.”

5. 18 POLICE September 2015 www.polfed.org
If people have a physical injury they don’t care
who knows, so why should a stress-related illness
be something to be ashamed of?
I grew up in Manchester and my parents divorced
when I was six; I didn’t see my dad again until I
was 16. My mum was a lesbian so I guess the
marriage was doomed to fail! I went to the local
comprehensive Catholic secondary school.
Thankfully, I had some of the most amazing
teachers who kept me on the right tracks. Even
though I wasn’t aware of it at the time, and of
course there wasn’t the information about in the
1980s, looking back I am sure I have suffered on
and off with depression since my teenage years. I
never knew how to deal with how I felt so I would
go for long walks on my own. Only a couple of my
teachers knew about this and they ensured I kept
myself as safe as I could. This makes me sound
like I was a loner as a child. Far from it; I was
pretty popular with peers and teachers. I was very
sporty so that helped.
I left Manchester at 19 to join Hertfordshire
Constabulary. I hadn’t had many dealings with the
police, however I knew it was what I wanted to do.
My probation flew by and I loved pretty much
most of it, however I would have spells of being
homesick. Not really for my family, but for my
friends. When I was about 23 I went on a new shift
and like most at that time I was the only female.
This was nothing unusual for me because that is
the way it had always been, however my new
sergeant was not overly impressed. I wish I could
say it was because he was ‘old school’ but
n FEATURES
then got weighed down… I felt like I was a weak
and rubbish dad and husband.
“I was driving to work thinking ‘I wish I was
dead’,” he added.
“I could just hear this white noise, 360 degrees. I
used to put my fingers in my ears, I just couldn’t
switch on properly. I think quite visually and all I
could see was a tunnel and at the end was
darkness, I just kept assuming something bad was
going to happen.”
But on June 16, 2012, the white noise that had
been plaguing him for months came to an end. “It
was just silence. I didn’t care about anything or
anyone. Things just turned to dust.”
He had to take time out from work for the first
time in his career, and it would be a year before he
could return.
“I had convinced myself I was the only police
officer that had ever had a mental illness. I
thought, how am I going to tell people I am
suffering from depression and I’m not the same
person anymore? I had two options. When
someone asked ‘Where have you been?’ I could lie
and make something up, or tell the truth. I am so
glad I decided to be honest and open.
“I’ve never had one negative reaction. People
react with empathy, and often disclose that either
they or a family member or a friend has suffered
from mental illness. How stupid is it to think that
people who work in the blue light services, who
deal with all the bad things in society, are immune
from mental illness? We are not, and there is no
shame in that. We teach officers how to protect
their bodies from physical harm. What we don’t do
is help them to protect their minds and ultimately
their mental well-being.”
Ed now talks to new recruits under the banner of
the Blue Light Programme.
“Because talking with a colleague, friend or
family member might help process how you are
feeling, and prevent it from becoming that seed
which grows and grows and one day erupts – like
it did with me,” he said.
‘Bottling things up
really doesn’t help’
National federation representative
Karen Stephens
Organisations can sign the Blue Light pledge to develop meaningful
action plans to support staff and volunteers. To find out more and to
start the application process, visit www.mind.org.uk/bluelightpledge
The Infoline is available by phoning 0300 303 5999 (lines open
Monday-Friday, 9am-6pm, calls charged at local rates), emailing
bluelightinfo@mind.org.uk or texting 84999 for a response from one
of the dedicated advisers during the Infoline working hours.
Advisers will look for details of help and support in your area or
relevant to your service. Unfortunately advisers are unable to offer
an emotional listening service or counselling through the Infoline.
For more details about the programme, visit mind.org.uk/bluelight

6. www.polfed.org September 2015 POLICE 19
unfortunately he wasn’t. To this day I don’t know
whether it was because I was female or he just did
not like me, but he made my life hell at work. He
picked on every single thing I did. The lads on the
shift could not understand it either. At least once a
shift I would end up in the toilets crying because
of him. Obviously being a ‘tough northerner’ I
would never let anyone see this side of me. Then I
started not wanting to go to work and crying
before work at the prospect of having to spend
time near this man. At this time I lived in a hostel
above a police station which was 15 miles away
from where I worked. The trip to work was on a
busy A-road and I began to think about what it
would be like if I didn’t take the bends.
I didn’t talk about it with anyone. I was in quite a
serious relationship, but I never told my partner
about it. I always kept partners at arm’s length as I
never wanted to get too close to anyone.
I finally went to the doctors and I was diagnosed
with clinical depression. My reaction was to burst
into tears and say I was not depressed. I was
signed off work for quite some time. The support I
got from my sergeant was non-existent; however
my inspector and chief inspector were brilliant.
That was after the initial shock to them; it would
appear that no one at work guessed that I was
feeling so bad. I was surprised at how good I had
been at hiding everything. Or was it because
people weren’t really looking for anything?
Just because people see you smile they think
things are ok; how wrong can they be.
Through my 24-year career I, like most, dealt
with all sorts of tragic incidents. One which
springs to mind was the death of a child. This was
before I had children. But it was at the end of a
nightshift and we got that call everyone dreads, ‘A
child has drowned in the bath’. It was 05.50hrs so
we all thought it must be a mistake, but
unfortunately not. A six-year-old girl who was
blind and had epilepsy, who loved water had
woken up and instead of going into her parents
she decided to try and have a bath. As she was
running the water she hit her head and fell in. She
had an epileptic fit and died. I then spent the next
five hours with the parents at the hospital.
Many of you may think that this is not an issue
but for some reason this death really affected me.
I could not sleep because every time I closed my
eyes I saw that little girl. When I went back into
work that night, no one mentioned it. The lads
‘appeared’ to have just moved on. I couldn’t
believe it. This was just an example of where I felt
a bit pathetic for letting things get to me when the
others seemed to be ok.
Bottling things up really doesn’t help. I have
done this time and time again. Many times my GP
would want to sign me off work but I would not let
FEATURES n
I was always
quite proud
of the fact
that my
supervisors
saw me as
someone who
they could
give anything
to and trust
that it would
get done.
Resilient was
always a word
used on my
performance
development
review.
them. I didn’t want people to see me as being
weak. So I would put my happy face on and just
get on with it. I was always quite proud of the fact
that my supervisors saw me as someone who they
could give anything to and trust that it would get
done. Resilient was always a word used on my
performance development review.
I have been on medication more than I haven’t
over the last 20 years. And while I hid this from the
majority of my friends and family I have got to a
stage in my life where I don’t believe I should hide
it anymore. That said, I do not believe for one
minute being on medication has hindered my
career or life. I wanted to become a detective so I
did. I wanted to be a regional representative, so I
did. I am married with two strong daughters who I
am immensely proud of.
I recently wrote something on social media
about my depression and was absolutely
overwhelmed with the response. Not only was it
supportive but the amount of people who sent me
private messages saying they too deal with
depression every day was overwhelming. I know
the majority of these people are like I was and
keep it secret, but why do we have to feel like we
should hide this illness? If people reading this
think that I am weak because of my illness, then
it’s them that I feel sorry for. I am a strong woman
who knows her own mind.
I am a regional representative for one of the
largest regions. I have always stood my ground
even if it has made me unpopular. But that is what
I am here for and I love my job.
The majority of us joined the police to help
people – please remember that this does not stop
with the public. Look at your colleagues, make
sure you help them too and when they smile, look
at their eyes to see if they are really smiling.
If you only take one thing away from what you
have read, please just remember. I don’t want to
be treated differently because I have been open
about depression, that’s not why I am doing this.
I just want people to know that it is ok to tell
people you are depressed and feeling down. If
people see it as an issue, it’s their ‘issue’ not yours.
Karen is married with two daughters and is the
Region 5 South East representative with the Police
Federation and England and Wales (PFEW)
Other sources of help:
Officers who make a voluntary weekly donation to Flint House, Police
Rehabilitation Centre, can also access specialist help:
www.flinthouse.co.uk/psychological-support.html
The Federation and Police Firearms Officers Association Welfare Support
Programme is aimed at those who have been involved in post-incident
procedures: www.polfed.org/fedatwork/Welfare_Support_Programme.aspx