British Transport Police Federation Joins STEP Campaign

23 September 2026

The concerning impact of relentless trauma on front line police officers was highlighted this week - as the British Transport Police Federation announced it was joining the STEP campaign.

Stu Cowan, Chair of the BTP Federation, laid out at his organisation’s Annual Conference how his colleagues across Britain face “incident after incident… with no time to process what you've just seen before you move onto the next one.”

Stu said colleagues has been “stretched too thin for too long” and emphasised the pressure officers in the British Transport Police are under and their repeated exposure to trauma.

He told delegates of the 270 suicides and attempted suicides on the rail network in the past year and how his members will have attended every one of those scenes.

Chief Constable Lucy D’Orsi – who was in the room – heard how front line officers face a monotonous cycle of safeguarding, violence, grief and disorder.

And that this relentless demand was “back to back.”

Stu described it as “continuous operational trauma that can affect officer’s mental and physical health”

“We don't want to see our members burning out. We don't want morale on the floor,” he said.

Stu publicly gave his backing to the STEP (Suicide Trauma Education Prevention) campaign – launched by Hampshire Police Federation – which calls on the Government to properly record suicide numbers in policing, provide more funding for mental health support, and pushes police chiefs to roll out a suicide prevention app.

"Suicide is an issue in the police service... like most forces we have lost colleagues to suicide,” he said.

In the first nine months of 2026 at least 15 police officers and staff members in the country have taken their own lives. This is already more than in the whole of 2025.

To applause, Stu told delegates the BTP Federation has signed up to the STEP campaign and the Stay Alive app – provided by the Grassroots Suicide Prevention charity – will be made available on the mobile phones of police officers.

The Stay Alive app gives people immediate access to evidence-based resources and crisis contacts. It is designed both for people experiencing suicidal thoughts and those supporting colleagues or loved ones.

Anyone, police or civilian, can download the app for free, or access information from the website: prevent-suicide.org.uk

Statistics from the Police Federation of England and Wales show that more than 100 police officers and staff died by suicide between 2022 and 2025.

At least 70 police officers have died during that time and there have been more than 200 attempted suicides.

47 of 70 police officer suicides and 173 of 236 attempted suicides between 2022 and 2025 are attributable to officers involved in misconduct or criminal investigations against them.

As part of his 20-minute speech, Stu urged the force’s Professional Standards Department “to reflect on how they investigate officers.”
"Allegations are not findings," Stu said to applause from colleagues.

The theme of the annual conference – this year held in Glasgow – was the non-stop nature of policing the country’s rail network.

Speaking after the conference, Spencer Wragg, Chair of Hampshire Police Federation and the officer behind the STEP campaign, said: "We know that suicide affects all walks of life and once again this year we are seeing how many forces up and down the country are losing officers and staff to suicide.

“Having the British Transport Police Federation get behind STEP is important.

"As a force BTP officers will deal with the aftermath of deaths on the railway... anecdotally we have seen that officers and staff, when in crisis, can and do replicate methods and locations where they have dealt with a suicide.

"We have written to the Policing Minister recently asking for all Chief Constables to include the Stay Alive app on all force mobile phones. Many forces have adopted this and we estimate that around 70,000 phones already have this. It costs policing nothing.

"But not having access to somewhere or someone to reach out to when in crisis could cost an officer or staff member everything."

Stu also tackled the level of assaults on colleagues in his speech. Delegates heard more than 1,000 BTP officers had been assaulted in the past year.

“Risk is part of our job… assaults should not be,” said Stu. “These are crimes against our members doing a job to protect all of us.”

Conference heard how for data protection reasons the British Transport Police cannot and does not currently tell the Federation when an officer in the force is assaulted.

Which affects the level of wellbeing support they can be offered.

Stu called on the force to find a way to allow a way for officers to let the Federation know when this has happened that is compatible with data protection.

If police officers and staff are struggling they can contact the Mental Health Crisis Line (call 0300 131 2789) and Samaritans (116 123).