27 November 2023

13,000 Officers Signed Off Due To Mental Ill Health

Police officers are under huge pressure, Dorset Police Federation has said, as it emerged that over 13,000 UK officers were signed off over the past year due to stress, depression, anxiety or post-traumatic stress disorder. 

This figure is a new record and 80% up on a decade ago. Dorset Police Federation Chair James Dimmack said: “It should be absolutely shocking, but in some ways it doesn’t surprise me. That’s because of the pressures that officers are under, including the threat of repercussions for simply doing their job, and the pressures of low resource.” 

James said that the widely reported uplift in police officers hadn’t solved policing problems, as demand had also increased, as well as the expectations of what officers can do. 

He added: “The population has grown too, but we are not reflecting that. The amount of work that we have to do, in the different areas we have to do it, is placing more demand on our resources, and officers are dwindling in experience. We’ve got lots of new officers, but in terms of experience we are hugely denuded.  

“Those officers need the chance to go out there and flourish and grow so they get that experience, but without support what damage is being done? We can see that, with officers being signed off work with mental health issues. These can come about because of a one-off incident, or as a drip-drip-drip over time.  

“The support services that are out there are great, they do the job, but often they’re only really there for when people are broken. We should be trying to stop people from breaking.”