James Stringer 💙

We need to start asking some uncomfortable questions. Yesterday, we were informed that another police officer had taken their own life. We were also told that the officer had recently been served with papers by Professional Standards. We have now also been told that serving officers at that force have been warned that speaking publicly about what has happened could result in disciplinary action. If accurate, that raises further serious questions. In recent months, police officers and bereaved families have approached us drawing comparisons between what is happening within policing and the Post Office scandal. There is a growing feeling that policing is destroying some of its own people. When the public hears “misconduct investigation”, they may understandably assume serious wrongdoing. Yet we have heard accounts of lengthy, disproportionate investigations and careers being placed at risk over matters including private WhatsApp messages, memes and GIFs. For many officers, policing becomes part of their identity. Threaten their career, reputation and sense of belonging after years of exposure to trauma, violence and death, and the consequences can be devastating. Officers must be held accountable for wrongdoing. But accountability does not require a process that is disproportionate, unnecessarily prolonged or inhumane. And officers should not be frightened into silence when legitimate questions need to be asked. There is a much bigger story here. It demands proper, independent investigation.