A POLICE officer who has left the job because of PTSD and depression has questioned why policing spends money on keeping officers safe from physical harm but doesn\u2019t provide the same support for their mental health.<\/p>\n
Former sergeant Ed Simpson told the Police Federation Annual Conference\u00a0that forces spend tens of thousands of pounds on personal protective equipment and training to keep officers safe from injury, but hidden injuries are killing more officers.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have PPE training every year but at no point do we ever train or talk about the fact that this job can make you mentally ill,\u201d said Ed.<\/p>\n
If 29 police officers were killed on duty in one year there would be an outcry and something would be done about it, Ed told the conference.<\/p>\n
And that, delegates were told, is how many police officers committed suicide in 2013.<\/p>\n
He told the conference that figures from the Office of National Statistics show that between 2001 and 2013, 248 police officers either committed suicide or were \u201cdeath undetermined\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cI remember thinking why doesn\u2019t anyone talk about this? Of course we might get mentally ill on this job. Look at the job we do,\u201d said Ed.<\/p>\n
His sickness began after dealing with the parents of a boy in a mortuary. He said the mother\u2019s screaming reaction \u201ccompletely destroyed\u201d him and left him feeling helpless.<\/p>\n
The officer\u2019s health deteriorated considerably until four years later when he was diagnosed with depression.<\/p>\n
Ed (pictured), a former West and North Yorkshire Police officer, said: \u201cI felt like I wasn\u2019t anything. There was nobody helping me back up. I was put on half pay the day my second child was born.<\/p>\n
\u201cI wanted to die. I hadn\u2019t figured out how I wanted to end it all.\u201d<\/p>\n
He ended his speech by encouraging delegates \u2013 and police officers \u2013 to look out for each other. His \u201cfamily\u201d as he called police officers.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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