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PA Media<\/p>\nPA Media<\/p>\n
A former police officer has spoken about the lasting trauma of attending tragic incidents, saying many officers have experiences that stay with them “forever”.<\/p>\n
Linzi McLaren was speaking as new statistics show that more than 60% of police officers in Northern Ireland, who took long-term sick leave in the past year, cited mental health reasons.<\/p>\n
Figures obtained from the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) via a Freedom of Information request, have also revealed the number of officers who have taken leave over anxiety, depression and PTSD has risen in the past five years.<\/p>\n
The Police Federation of Northern Ireland said colleagues were “suffering” because of a lack of resources.<\/p>\n
‘I can see him on the back seat’<\/p>\n
Ms McLaren, a councillor who served in the PSNI for 18 years, said most officers “all have one or two incidents that they will remember forever”. <\/p>\n
“I remember attending a suicide 20 years ago. Even now, driving home at night in the dark, if I’m in the car on my own and I look through the rear-view mirror, I can see him on the back seat,” she said.<\/p>\n
“I remember one colleague who worked with the murder team for 30 years, and it never fazed him, every time he went to a scene no matter how graphic. <\/p>\n
“It was only when his own children became the ages of those victims that all of a sudden it had a huge impact on him.”<\/p>\n
Ms McLaren said mental health had always been a major problem within the service, but attitudes towards support have only recently changed.<\/p>\n
“In days gone by, especially during the Troubles, you didn’t go off sick with mental health,” she said.<\/p>\n
“You maybe got a day [off] and your mates got you a bottle of whiskey.”<\/p>\n
Ms McLaren said some colleagues have held back on admitting the extent of their struggles for fear of how it would affect their career.<\/p>\n
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PA Media<\/p>\n
Former PSNI officer Linzi McLaren has been working to highlight the importance of early mental health intervention <\/p>\n
Officers on mental health leave<\/p>\n
The PSNI defines long-term absence as officers who have been absent from work for 29 days or more, in one period. <\/p>\n
More than 1,700 officers took such an absence in 2024\/25. That is more than 27% of the total police workforce.<\/p>\n
Of that number, 1,032 are on psychological sick leave. <\/p>\n
There has been a notable increase in the number of officers who took at least one day off work due to various mental health reasons.<\/p>\n
The number of officers who have left the PSNI directly after taking psychological sick leave has also risen.<\/p>\n
Figures also show 218 officers left the organisation after a period of psychological sick leave in the latest financial year, compared to 74 in 2021\/22.<\/p>\n
Ms McLaren said these days PSNI officers were more willing to engage in discussions around mental health, but occupational health services were not able to keep up with demand.<\/p>\n
“Our occupational health is not an emergency service, and they remind us of that all the time,” she said.<\/p>\n
“They [officers] have nightmares, they can’t sleep, they’ve got anxiety or depression \u2013 and they go to occupational health services but maybe can’t get an appointment for six months.”<\/p>\n
Police mental health ‘challenges’<\/p>\n
Ms McLaren said more and more people were turning to private health care, but some felt it was not a sufficient option for them because the experience of dealing with various forms of trauma while working as an officer is so unique. <\/p>\n
“You are also tied to data protection, so you can’t go and discuss the murder or suicide you just attended,” she added.<\/p>\n
“You can’t go home and discuss it with your partner or your children.<\/p>\n
“So there really is no other avenue or outlet to talk about what you’ve witnessed, apart from your colleagues.”<\/p>\n
Early counselling is something Ms McLaren has been calling for.<\/p>\n
“For those officers that attend traumatic incidents, give them counselling at that time in a bid to stop them from deteriorating to the point that they can no longer work,” she explained.<\/p>\n
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PA Media<\/p>\n
The PSNI said it was “committed to continuously improving the range of health and wellbeing support”<\/p>\n
Police officer ‘burn out’ <\/p>\n
The chair of the Police Federation of Northern Ireland, Liam Kelly, said the latest figures were “not in the least bit surprising”.<\/p>\n
“Colleagues with a number of conditions – some complex and long-term – are suffering because of both a lack of resources and a limited cadre of overburdened professionals capable of supporting and assisting them,” he said. <\/p>\n