Conference 2025: Officer suicide discussion ‘incredibly impactful, says equality lead

26 November 2025

The number of police officer suicides and attempted suicides is ‘sobering’, says Hertfordshire Police Federation equality lead Terasa Holden.

Terasa said there was help and support available for Federation members in Hertfordshire as she urged them not to ‘suffer in silence’.

She was reflecting on the Police Federation of England and Wales (PFEW) conference and an emotive discussion on officer suicides and attempted suicides.

At conference, PFEW called for every force in England and Wales to formally record all suicides and suicide attempts among serving officers. It said the service cannot tackle a crisis it cannot properly measure.

 

Branch equality lead Terasa Holden

 

Recent work between PFEW and its local branches identified 56 police officer suicides between 2021 and 2024. Of those, 34 officers were under criminal or misconduct investigation at the time.

In the same period, 120 officers disclosed suicidal thoughts or attempts, with 71 of them also facing ongoing investigations.

This suggested a potential link between lengthy disciplinary processes and declining mental health, conference heard.

PFEW is pushing for reforms, including mandatory risk assessments for any officer placed under investigation, minimum national welfare standards, and the rollout of the Stay Alive suicide-prevention app across all work devices.

Impactful

Terasa said: “The discussion was incredibly impactful.

“We’ve got a good wellbeing team in Hertfordshire – three full-time staff and around 160 wellbeing champions – and we work closely with the wellbeing team and Unison.

 “If an officer is served with misconduct papers, support officers can help with welfare.

“We've got Force chaplains as well. They’re not all religious, you can go and see them, whatever your faith or if you don’t have a faith, and have a chat.

“The Force does support people with conduct issues,” she added.

Misconduct

The PFEW conference also heard about a new Victim and Witness Support Programme, which was announced by chief executive Mukund Krishna during his keynote speech.

In welcoming the announcement of a national rollout next year, Terasa said Hertfordshire was already aware that it was not just the officer under a misconduct investigation who can be affected.

“There are the victims and witnesses too,” she said. “We’ve seen witnesses who were distressed, crying on the phone, saying they didn’t want to give evidence but felt forced to.

“We’ve been supporting them for a while, and we work with the Professional Standards Department (PSD) to make sure these people are supported.”

Struggling

Terasa said she was incredibly motivated to help officers.

She said: “I really care about officer welfare. If that means doing a little bit more, then I will.

“I’ve downloaded the Stay Alive app, and I’ve encouraged several officers to do the same. Even if you don’t use it personally, have it on your phone because it could help someone else.

“There is help for officers and I would encourage them to seek support if they are struggling. Please don’t suffer in silence.”

Visit the health and wellbeing section of the Hertfordshire Police Federation website for information.

And members can watch the conference discussions and speeches again on the PFEW YouTube channel.

READ MORE: Change to 'use of force threshold' welcomed by branch.