MP Shocked By Realities Of Policing

14 January 2026

Police pay and working conditions, the national recording of officer suicides and the timeliness of misconduct investigation were all discussed at a recent meeting between Sussex Police Federation and Peter Kyle MP.

Federation Chair, Raffaele Cioffi met Mr Kyle, MP for Hove and Portslade and the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, this month, to inform him on the important issues of the day, when the Minister heard that officers “are always at the bottom of the payroll bundle”.

Raffaele said: "I made him aware of the #CoppedEnough campaign and the Early Day Motion that is in place around the rights for negotiations for collective bargaining with binding arbitration and the review, the reform of the PRRB process. He was sympathetic to our course but would not position himself.”

The Minister was saddened to hear about the realities around police officer suicide, Raffaele said, adding: “He was shocked that the police have no obligation to record anything in relation to the deaths that take place that are work-related.

“He was very much in support of work taking place and he's aware of the work that's going on within Government. It is clear we have a supporter in that area.”

And linked to police officer suicides is the time taken over conduct investigations, Raffaele warned, due to its drastic impact on wellbeing.

Research from the Police Federation of England and Wales shows that there were 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.

Raffaele added: “There's a clear correlation between how many people take their own lives and how long they're under investigation. Not having an end in sight is quite a significant impact to someone's mental health.”