Police Union Boss is right – cops need far more mental health welfare
Outgoing police union boss Chris Cahill delivers grave mental health warning in final speech
Outgoing Police Association president Chris Cahill warns the country is heading towards a “full-scale collision” if nothing is done to address the level of mental distress police work is imposing on officers.
In his final speech in the role, Cahill urged the Government to use its pot of money taken from criminals to fund an initiative that would allow officers to see “a psychologist as soon as possible, whenever they want to”.
Look.
I’m no fan of the cops, but Cahill’s warning demands attention.
If we want better cops who won’t abuse their power, then give them the quality of life resources to do that.
Police need far more than 20 weeks training!
We need longer training, more intense training alongside far better wages and far better conditions.
We need to ensure Police have the best counselling services and the best subsides and benefits.
Longer holiday times better insurance and super deals.
News recently that Police were going to Food Banks because they couldn’t afford groceries is heart breaking and shocking.
Police do a difficult job and are given enormous powers and you need them to be reasonable, law abiding and emotionally intelligent. You can’t have that expectation if they are underfunded and under resourced and the stress becomes psychologically destabilising.
Cahill is right.
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I think police have a hard time and very different from the version that Leslie Thomas dealt with when he was at a Barnados Orphanage in UK post war. He ran away and was missing for a while but no-one went after him with guns, and eventually he turned up at a station and told them he had run away and was giving up. So they spoke a little to him gave him a cup of tea and food, and a cell for the night and returned him to the Boys Home where he got a telling off. He became a famous author.
Indeed. Police need training so that they have a rudimentary understanding of the law and can shoot well enough that they can stop murdering people for no reason. Continuing to not do this is just irresponsible
If our state forces, police/military are forced to go down the same path as US state forces, then we are all in for a rough ride.
Never the less we need them on our side all pulling together as one.
National’s war against ‘Woke Policing’ wouldn’t have helped. Human decency, ‘Wokeness’ is humanities default position, soldiers police and para-militaries have to have it drilled out of them.
But it comes at a cost in mental health.
Personally, I have preferred the gentler Woke policing that followed in the wake of the ‘Terror raids; on Tuhoe.
And I am sure that it was kinder on the police themselves as well.
The new macho policiing policy will take a toll on the polce and the and the public and the police will need all the therapy they can get.