A new hard-hitting campaign has been launched today (Monday 24 March) aiming to reduce the escalating number of police officers who take their own lives - and to better support cops who are attending suicides.

The STEP – Suicide Trauma Education Prevention – campaign will raise awareness of the amount of daily trauma officers face in their jobs, and where they can access support when they need it.

Between 2011 and 2022, there were 242 suicides of current police officers and PCSOs in England and Wales. More recently – from 2021 to 2024 – an estimated 80 former and current police officers took their own lives.

Although the causes of any suicide are complicated and nuanced, Spencer says many officers are deeply affected when they attend incidents where a member of the public has taken their own life.

Hampshire Police Federation Chair Spencer Wragg is behind the national campaign.

Spencer said: “The campaign is going to talk about some uncomfortable subjects but it’s important we have these conversations and understand what can happen to our colleagues when they attend these incidents.

“It’s almost as if officers – by attending suicides so regularly - can be educated as to the methodology of how to do it. Whereas most of the public are rightly shielded from this detail, we are not.

“What safeguards are in place for our colleagues attending such high volume of suicides? Do we know how many suicides officers are attending in the course of their duties? This can take its toll and – sadly – when officers are at their lowest ebb, rather than talk to someone they carry out something they know all about.

“We have to change this.”

In 2023 alone, there were 7,055 deaths registered in the UK where the cause was recorded as suicide. This is the highest rate per size of population since 1999.

That means that more officers are facing the trauma of attending a suicide-related call. As part of the STEP campaign, the Federation are calling for the practical step of mandatory TRiM (Trauma Risk Management) sessions for every police officer who attends a suicide.

As well as addressing a pressing issue for the police, the STEP campaign is personal for Spencer. Six years ago, he was struggling with his own mental health and said he came “as close as you can get to taking your own life, without actually doing it”.

He said: “It’s the lowest point I have ever been at. It demonstrates that it can happen to anybody.

“I was really struggling but hadn’t reached out for help, then on a day off I went from being relatively ok, to being within 98% of taking my own life. The irrational became logical, and I was seconds away from completing the task. It’s a period in my life which will hopefully never be repeated, and something I’ve managed to bring myself through.

“The message I would like to share is that it’s OK not to be OK about how you are feeling, but what you must do is reach out to someone, anyone, it doesn’t matter who."

The campaign will be lobbying Chief Officers, MPs and Police and Crime Commissioners to provide better support to front line officers.  

It is important for officers who are struggling to know they are not alone, and that there are people there to help. This includes, for immediacy:

The Thin Blue Line: visit www.thinbluelineuk.org.uk

and Samaritans: call 116 123

There is also the support offered by charities such as Flint House, The Police Treatment Centres, The Ben Fund, Oscar Kilo, PTSD 999, Police Chaplaincy and Police Care.