More than 150 PSNI employees have received support over the past four months amid “considerable challenges” including exposure to traumatic incidents and impact on their psychological health.
It has also been revealed that extra support for officers was put in place during the Twelfth of July period and amid the recent August disorder.
It comes as it emerged 357 officers are currently off sick due to mental health issues.
It has also been reported some PSNI officers are waiting nine months for specialist mental health support, and sick days related to mental health have increased from 27,000 in 13 to 108,000 in 2024.
The issue was raised by PSNI chief constable Jon Boutcher, who said at a recent Policing Board meeting that he believed the stress of the job contributed to the suicide of a male officer.
Gary Craig, who founded The Thin Blue Line charity offering support for struggling officers across the UK, said the reduction in officer numbers and increased workload in recent years was not sustainable.
Folks it's been a difficult weekend and pressures on policing could persist. Please remember to look out for yourselves and colleagues. Public order policing is difficult and dangerous. This is'nt normal, please know help is available. If you need help please ask available 24/7 pic.twitter.com/65nH4DwiQd
— ThinBlueLineUK (@ThinBlueLineUK) August 5, 2024
Speaking to the Stephen Nolan programme, Mr Craig said: “Police officers work until they can no longer work and they effectively burn out.
“Police officers work until they can no longer work and they effectively burn out.”
He said waiting nine months for mental health services was a “stark figure,” but reflected wider pressures on occupational health services.
With a focus on the riots across Northern Ireland in the last week, with around 20 officers being injured, he said the collective trauma faced by officers during their careers was already overwhelming.
“That is really difficult to process. You go to any of those incidents from murder to child deaths…we’ll go and do our job and we’ll go home or we’ll go to the next traumatic call,” he said.
“We’re not that cold-hearted that it doesn’t affect us.”
The PSNI’s occupational health & wellbeing director, Carol Mounce, acknowledged “the considerable challenges” faced by officers and staff including exposure to many traumatic incidents and the impact on their psychological health.
She said the proactive range of services available 24/7, included peer support from a group of officers and staff.
Since April this year, there has been a total of 48 incidents requiring support assistance, with 167 people supported during this period.
Extra support was put in place during the Twelfth of July period and recent August disorder.
Types of incidents where requests for assistance have been made include; the death of a colleague, incidents involving a child, murder, fatal road traffic collisions, sudden deaths, assaults on police, firearms incidents and vicarious trauma (such as viewing distressing images).
Where more specific therapy was required, all new referrals to mental health services were given an initial assessment within 10 working days and placed on a waiting list.
Waiting times, Ms Mounce said, could fluctuate for services like psychological talking therapies and depended on the resources available at the time of referral.
“Regrettably, increased levels of referrals mean current waiting times for these therapies is approximately nine months. However, the OHW team provide a range of self-help resources to enable a client to access all available services within and outside PSNI.”
She continued: “Policing is a rewarding, yet demanding career, with police officers and staff dealing with a range of traumatic incidents, materials or insights.
“There are currently 357 officers recorded as being absent from work due to mental health,” but said this was a common issue across other workforces.
She added that the chief constable had been “extremely candid” with the public about the pressure caused by funding cuts, and “sickness levels are off the scale because the organisation is exhausted”.
