Call for action to prevent police suicides

3 February 2026

Forces must do more to ensure that adequate and effective support is put in place for officers facing conduct proceedings, says the chair of West Midlands Police Federation.

Jess Davies was speaking after the Police Federation of England and Wales (PFEW) established a link between police officer and staff suicide and the police conduct regime.

Data put together by the Federation has revealed that more than 100 police officers and staff have died by suicide between 2022 and 2025. Forty-seven of the 70 suicides and 173 of 236 attempted suicides are attributable to officers involved in misconduct or criminal investigations against them. In 2025 the link was even stronger, with 12 of 13 police officer suicides that we know about involving officers under investigation.

“The Federation is calling for the silent crisis of police suicide to be addressed,” says Jess, “As it stands, forces are not even required to record suicide or attempted suicide, so I suspect that the Federation data does not even show the true scale of this crisis.

“The role of police officers in our communities is unique and the challenges they face in their day to day working lives put them under huge pressure. Sadly, when an officer finds themselves under investigation – and let’s remember some of these inquiries can go on for month after month and sometimes year after year – that just adds to that pressure.

“Forces have a duty of care to police officers and staff and should at the very least ensure that they are properly supported at work and particularly during any conduct investigations.

“As a Federation, we fully accept that officers’ conduct has to be properly scrutinised but there still needs to be a sense of compassion for the officers involved and a commitment by forces to ensure that proper support is available to them.”

Last week, police officer suicides were discussed in the House of Lords, with  amendments having been put forward to the Police and Crime Bill which would have required all forces to collect and publish data on suicide and attempted suicide among police officers and police staff for the purpose of supporting mental health and wellbeing.

Despite a number of peers supporting the amendments, which were also backed by the PFEW, they were later withdrawn.

Tim Rogers, secretary of West Midlands Police Federation, said he was disappointed they were not successful.

“It’s another example of an issue that the Government is just not getting behind,” he explained, “We are hearing warm words of support once again, but they are followed by acts of betrayal.

“Police suicide is not a marginal issue it is a blind spot that Government has chosen to leave unaddressed. If ministers can reform policing, they can also protect police officers.

“In terms of suicides within the police service, you simply cannot manage or address an issue that is not measured or properly recorded.

“The withdrawal of these amendments on police suicide within the Crime and Policing Bill is deeply disappointing, not because the problem is unclear, but because it is already well evidenced.

“Just last week, the Government announced a range of reform, saying it wanted to professionalise policing, introduce a licence to practise, and reform standards and conduct. It is striking that a basic protective measure - recording police suicides  is not being prioritised.”

He concluded: “The amendments were a radical proposal; a request to see clearly what is already happening and then act accordingly in terms of addressing the issues that lead officers and staff to take their own lives, leaving devastated families, friends and colleagues in their wake.”

The Report Stage of the bill starts in a few weeks’ time and the amendments could be re-tabled then, with members of the Lords being given the opportunity to vote on them.

The Federation has set out a six-point plan to end the suicide crisis:

•    Chief Constables need to agree start recording and reporting on suicide and attempted suicide in the workforce. It believes this needs to be a requirement set out in law and supported Lord Bailey’s amendment to the Crime and Policing Bill which would have made recording and reporting mandatory.

•    Police conduct regulations need to mandate a 12-month limit for disciplinary investigations into police officers, whether that is by the Independent Office for Police Conduct or police forces.
•    Health and safety legislation needs to treat police suicide as an incident at work and therefore reportable and investigated under ‘RIDDOR’ rules.
•    All forces should implement the Federation’s STEP (Suicide Trauma Education Prevention) campaign, a new national initiative launched by Hampshire Police Federation and backed by PFEW.  It aims to tackle the rising number of police officer suicides and exposing the often-unseen trauma officers face when repeatedly attending suicide incidents. It calls for mandatory TRiM (Trauma Risk Management) interventions for any officer attending a suicide. 
•    The coronial system needs to reflect the unique aggravating or contributory factors of the role of police officers in suicide and ensure that the crisis is dealt with nationally rather than through a patchwork of “prevention of future deaths” reports after individual inquests.
•    The Police Covenant needs to be funded to better support the welfare and wellbeing of police officers in the same way that the Armed Forces Covenant and Covenant Trust do.