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The figures, obtained by Accident At Work Claim UK, highlight the psychological pressures faced by police officers and staff. The Police Federation of England & Wales (POLFED) co-lead for wellbeing, Paul Williams, said: "With assaults on officers rising, pay being frozen, and job pressures being worse than ever, many police workers have been left mentally broken." The number of officers and staff taking leave due to mental health issues has increased each year.
In 2022, 528 individuals took a day off for mental health reasons. This rose to 650 in 2023, and 814 in the past year. This trend is mirrored across the UK, with more than 14,500 officers signed off work over the financial year 2023-24 due to stress, depression, anxiety, or post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
This is a 9 per cent increase on last year’s figures and 130 per cent higher than 11 years ago. The mental health struggles of officers and staff have resulted in a significant loss of working days. Last year, 774,000 working days were lost to mental health issues, a 55 per cent increase from five years earlier.
POLFED wellbeing worker Hayley Aley said the numbers were 'scary', but noted that officers were feeling more confident in reporting mental health issues. She said: "Some stigma is being eradicated. "Historically, police officers haven’t wanted to declare they are struggling with their mental health for fear it will affect their progression and will have a negative effect on their working life.
" Many officers and staff are choosing to retire early or leave the force due to the stresses and mental difficulties of the job. Over the past three years, South Wales Police has seen a total of 199 individuals leave the force, with the overall cost of sickness standing at £13,732,238. Paul Williams said: "When cops come into work now, they are under horrendous amounts of pressure by the job and the public, dealing with traumatic experiences every day, leading to an increase in ill-health retirements.
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