Culture of Support

Forces should foster a culture of support to manage thresholds of acceptability when they are engaging with complex cases so they can still respond appropriately to vulnerability.

Personnel wellbeing can be negatively impacted by the policing role which can impact their ability to demonstrate compassion towards victims and support them effectively.

• Personnel recognised that repeated exposure to trauma had had an impact on their own wellbeing, with some feeling desensitised and fatigued.
• Some personnel reported that their force were effective at supporting officers who are struggling, whilst others reported that early identification of difficulties and/or trauma was lacking. Others also reported that it can be challenging to acknowledge and report difficulties.
• There was an emphasis on the reciprocal role of victim care and officer wellbeing.

What are the VKPP doing?

• VKPP have done a lot work around Officer Norms- please see below.
• This will be considered when thinking about the National Approach to Vulnerability work that the VKPP are leading.

Any resources available now?

• NVAP-Officer-Norms-Action-Impact-Toolkit-v2.3-FINAL.pdf (vkpp.org.uk)
• The National Police Wellbeing Service | Oscar Kilo
• https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1152446/full