O'Reilly Michelle, Thorne Barney, Smith Philippa, Kiyimba Nikki
University of Leicester and Leicestershire Partnership NHS Trust, University Road, Leicester, UK.
Head of Mental Health/Suicide Prevention Lead, Leicestershire Police, Wigston Police Station, Wigston, UK.
Policing Soc. 2024 Jul 3;35(1):101-117. doi: 10.1080/10439463.2024.2372684. eCollection 2025.
Across the globe suicide rates are creating concern, and the World Health Organisation (WHO) argues that suicide is the responsibility of everyone. The WHO recognises that police have an important role in suicide prevention and the management of mental health crises. We suggest that police officers and staff are inevitably impacted by the emotional labour of meeting the demands of this aspect of the role. We argue for more research attention on the experiences and views of police who work with suicide. This study comprised qualitative reflective interviews with police in the UK, Guyana and New Zealand, with the focus on identifying commonalities in experience across the three locations. Four themes were generated through reflective thematic analysis: (1) the context; (2) the traumatic impact; (3) the difficult aspects of this work and (4) organisational opportunities for supporting police officers and staff. Our data illustrated that suicide is qualitatively different from other forms of death, and the nature of the work did have considerable emotional and traumatic impact on police. We conclude our paper with several recommendations for police forces to build their welfare support for staff. These recommendations could help promote a healthier workforce and recognise the specific issues associated with this part of the role.
全球范围内，自杀率引发了人们的关注，世界卫生组织（WHO）认为预防自杀是每个人的责任。WHO认识到警察在预防自杀和心理健康危机管理中发挥着重要作用。我们认为，警察和工作人员不可避免地会受到履行这一职责所带来的情感劳动的影响。我们主张更多地关注与自杀事件打交道的警察的经历和观点。本研究对英国、圭亚那和新西兰的警察进行了定性反思访谈，重点是找出这三个地区警察经历中的共同点。通过反思性主题分析得出了四个主题：（1）背景；（2）创伤性影响；（3）这项工作的困难方面；（4）支持警察和工作人员的组织机会。我们的数据表明，自杀在性质上不同于其他形式的死亡，这项工作的性质确实对警察产生了相当大的情感和创伤性影响。我们在论文结尾为警察部队提出了几项建议，以加强对工作人员的福利支持。这些建议有助于打造更健康的警察队伍，并认识到与这一职责相关的具体问题。
