July 2024 ‘We are human too’

‘We are human too’

By Gemma Fraser
Head of Content

“Some people think that we’re not human, that we’re just a uniform, immune to it all,” says Police Sergeant Claire Garrett.

“But we’re all mums, dads, daughters, sisters, brothers and we all need support at some point in time.

“I have 20 years’ police service, so I’ve probably seen the best of jobs, and the worst of the jobs.

“I’ve worked in various different departments where, for me, a lot of it was heart-breaking.

“I was a detective, did a lot of child protection work, dealt with a lot of sexual abuse cases, and learned the hard way that it has a shelf life.

“I had to come out of that area of policing. I was struggling and I had to go and get counselling.”

Now Claire feels she has “come full circle” and is using her experiences to help her colleagues; a consequence known as post-traumatic growth.

A Police Scotland ‘wellbeing champion’ within her Ayr police office, she has also trained with Lifelines Scotland, an NHS project which supports the wellbeing of the emergency service staff and volunteers in Scotland.

“We’ve got a lot of clinical wisdom and support in emergency services,” explains Leni Rademacher, training advisor at the Rivers Centre for Traumatic Stress in Edinburgh, which hosts the Lifelines project.

“The clinical lead of our project wanted to use the learning from those years of providing therapeutic support to try and look at ways to support people much earlier on, because what they were noticing as one of the reasons why people delayed getting support was the sense of shame or blame.

“They thought it was something they had done or hadn’t done that made them unwell in terms of post-traumatic stress disorder.

“It’s about cultural change, we need to change people’s mindset, encourage people to be kind and compassionate to each other; if we can do all that we can do away with a lot of other ills that happen in organisations.”

“Twenty years ago, you wouldn’t talk about these things because we are the ‘hardy polis’”

First responders from across the board – police, fire, ambulance and lifeboat – all use the Lifelines training sessions, with some signing up to become ‘facilitators’ to take their knowledge back to colleagues.

Pre-prepared materials on issues surrounding trauma, depression, stress and wellbeing are used during training to help facilitators learn how best to manage situations in the workplace, and to recognise the signs of trauma – including sensory triggers such as smells and sounds.

The training sessions themselves also act as a springboard for further discussion, and fictional scenarios involving first responders are put to participants to identify potential stress factors and what could be done to help them deal with any associated trauma.

Emergency responders are encouraged to look at the bigger picture and the potential issues or challenges in their own lives which could impact the way they respond to a specific incident.

“Every facilitator is different and we all get different things from each of the training sessions and emphasise different things,” explains Leni.

“The content is looked after because it’s all pre-recorded, so the conversations can be as different as they need to be.

“Small group exercises are about people’s experiences in terms of what they’ve done in their job.”

Claire tells 1919 that Lifelines is about “promoting resilience in first responders”.

She says: “I feel like I’ve come full circle now. Counsellors talk about post-traumatic growth and I see that’s where I am now.

“I try each day to make people feel valued and motivated about work, which can be quite hard at times when you have challenging resources and demands.

“Don’t get me wrong, it is a very rewarding job, but is also a very demanding job.

“We see and deal with horrific incidents at work so it’s really important to me that we get better at looking after one another.

“In the past, there wasn’t this kind of wellbeing support and the fall-backs for supporting resilience. I notice now, more than ever, when people are struggling and it’s important to me that we talk, signpost and support each other.

“Wellbeing is simply about looking after one another and reaching out when people feel comfortable.

“We are a lot better at talking about things these days. Twenty years ago, you wouldn’t talk about these things because we are the ‘hardy polis’.”

“It’s about cultural change, we need to change people’s mindset, encourage people to be kind and compassionate to each other”

More than 1,200 Police Scotland employees attended Lifelines’ ‘staying well and understanding resilience’ training session, while 947 completed the ‘supporting your colleagues/teams’ course.

An evaluation carried out by Police Scotland found that 91.8 per cent of respondents recalled the training either well or very well; more than 70 per cent said they think about the messages from the session on a daily or weekly basis; more than 89 per cent have spoken to at least one person to ask if they are OK or to offer support since the Lifelines session; and 88.4 per cent of respondents feel confident asking for help in relation to their own mental health or suicidal thoughts.

In more general terms, respondents said they felt they were keeping an eye out for their colleagues more following their training, were looking after themselves more, and felt more confident asking others how they were feeling.

With more officers now undertaking the facilitators programme, Lifelines training can also be provided to probationers for the first time, as well as being used in continuing professional development for the force’s wellbeing champions.

“We could always still do better, and Lifelines supporting first responders is amazing because it does get people to be honest and open about what they’ve been through and how we can help at the time,” says Claire.

“I talked on the Lifelines course about me having ‘Pandora boxes’ in my head; you go and deal with an incident then put it in a box and to the back of your head.

“Over the years it builds up and it’s like a pop, and you eventually realise you actually need to talk about what you’ve dealt with over the years.

“Taking time to just ask someone how they’re doing today, or how they’re feeling after dealing with a particular incident is the first step, the talk that could make a difference in someone’s life.

“We all have a responsibility to look after the people around us.”

To find out more about Lifelines Scotland, or to access services, visit www.lifelines.scot.

‘Don’t avoid using the word suicide’

By Andy Fairie

A chilling piece of information was uncovered at a meeting in May of the Scottish Parliament’s Criminal Justice Committee, which was hearing evidence about the proposed Police Ethics, Conduct and Scrutiny Bill.

The committee heard that at least five Scottish police officers had completed suicide while they were under investigation for criminal or misconduct matters.

What was more disturbing than the statistic itself was the fact that this information did not come from Police Scotland but an external body.

This is not surprising, though, given the reluctance of the organisation to discuss the subject of police suicide.

In 2020 the organisation came under media criticism for not knowing how many officers and staff had completed suicide.

Of course, the police are not alone in that reluctance to talk about suicide.

I can’t claim to have been above that reluctance myself.

As a sergeant, one of my officers completed suicide, leaving a sense of guilt on the part of his colleagues and friends and a host of unanswered questions.

Why? Did he really want to kill himself? What could I have done to stop that?

For me, there was a lot of painful reflection on why we had never discussed the subject when we met for weekly attendance management sessions, even though he was clearly at risk.

Despite much effort, suicide rates in Scotland remain stubbornly high, with 762 deaths in 2022, a much higher rate when compared to England (13.9 deaths per 100,000 compared with 10.7).

Due to the way deaths are recorded, figures regarding the impact of someone’s occupation on suicide are difficult to obtain, however research does exist which indicates a substantially higher risk among law enforcement professionals.

The Scottish Police Authority receives a quarterly wellbeing report and His Majesty’s Inspector of Constabulary in Scotland recently produced a report on police wellbeing.

But neither of these documents makes any reference to suicide .

You would not produce a report on violent crime without discussing the number of murders, so why produce reports about wellbeing that do not deal with the difficult subject of suicide?

After all, how does the organisation know if the problem is getting better or worse if it does not measure it?

Part of the reason for that reluctance is a fear that talking about suicide makes people more likely to complete suicide.

The actual research, however, shows the complete opposite to be true.

When the Montreal police force started a mandatory awareness programme about police suicide, it significantly reduced the number of officers who killed themselves, and this happened when neighbouring police forces were seeing an increase in the numbers of officers taking their own lives.

We have an individual responsibility to our friends and colleagues to discuss the subject of suicide.

There is a real value in doing this on a regular basis.

If you can do this in easier times, it becomes less difficult to do when times are hard.

Most importantly, if you are having a conversation about suicide, don’t avoid using the word suicide.

Andy Fairie is a retired Police Scotland officer

You can get help or support from organisations including Breathing Space (0800 83 85 87), Samaritans (116 123) and Police Care UK (www.policecare.org.uk)