A VOLUNTEER police officer has revealed the harrowing experiences that led to him quitting the force, attempting to take his own life, and being diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder.

Alex Penn, 26, signed up to Essex Police as a special constable in 2015, aged just 19.

He spoke out to underline how police officers are “human” and care about the people they serve.

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In 2018, Alex, from Southend - who worked full-time in the Royal Mail while serving - was diagnosed with PTSD after discovering a dead body in a seafront home.

Echo:

He “struggled to shake” the image of the dead body, and spiralled into depression in the weeks after.

Mr Penn said: “He must have been dead for a number of weeks.

“That was the first time I had seen a body and I ran straight out of the property and was sick in front of members of the public.”

Mr Penn says he could not shake the image of the body and over the following weeks began to spiral into depression, despite receiving “excellent support” from Essex Police.

He said: “I used to go to sleep at night and dream about him, and I would wake up and there would be this body standing over me.

“I would see him everywhere and it came to a point where I wanted to end it all.”

Echo:

On the morning he planned to take his own life, Mr Penn texted police colleagues who called in support, stopping him before he could go through with it.

Mr Penn was taken off operational duty and diagnosed with PTSD.

Following months of therapy and support from the force, he returned to his role.

However, two more traumatic events over the course of the pandemic led him to hang up his boots for good.

Mr Penn added: “I know my PTSD will never go, I have accepted it. I now see it as a positive. It has made me more empathetic.

“I want to use these experiences, to change the perception of police, that they don’t care or are unfeeling.

“We have emotions, we are human, and we care deeply about the people we serve.”

Essex Police is working to improve mental health services for staff.

An Essex Police spokesman said: "Working for the police service undoubtedly has its challenges. On a daily basis our officers, police staff and volunteers face situations and respond to events and scenes of incidents which can be shocking, frightening and distressing.

"Our officers, police staff and volunteers are only human and some of the things they witness and experience can leave an indelible mark on them so it is really important we are able to support them. We provide employees with trauma risk management (TRiM), a specialist peer support system delivered by colleagues to identify and support those who have been exposed to challenging and traumatic situations.

"This process helps to identify potential trauma issues and referrals for treatment where needed but the key factor of a peer support system of this kind is that it normalises reactions at an early stage to help the individual engage with positive self-care and support if needed to reduce the long term impact.

"We understand the value of our Health and Wellbeing Services and continue to invest in this area and we provide both in-house and external counselling for our officers and staff to provide the help they need as quickly as possible. In addition, we provide an Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) to all officers, staff and members of the Special Constabulary which provides a wide range of both physical and mental health advice and counselling services.

"We deliver the award-winning Feel Well Live Well courses which provide officers and staff an opportunity to build their self-awareness, boost resilience and develop coping strategies for life in general. A course for supervisors and managers within the organisation is in place to support leaders with promoting positive wellbeing and the benefits of a compassionate, empathic leadership style.

"Since the inception of the coronavirus pandemic, virtual online wellbeing sessions have been delivered by our internal Health and Wellbeing teams at approximately two sessions per week on a variety of topics to support our people with the changing landscape and any concerns they may have. The engagement levels of the organisation have far surpassed expectation and, therefore, the virtual wellbeing sessions now also form part of the business as usual wellbeing offering provided by Essex Police.

"When considering the financial landscape and cost of living pressures being experienced, a programme of activity has been developed for the forthcoming year to support individuals and provide signposting options to both internal and external resources in this key area. This programme also includes a monthly virtual session on a financial topic with guest speakers and organisations providing expert advice in this area, from budgeting tips to advice for working from home.

"A psychological screening programme is in place to support those officers and staff in a role that has a routine elevated level of potential trauma, such as those dealing with child and adult abuse on a regular basis.

"We know there is always, as there is nationally, work to be done to reduce stigma in mental health, there is a sense of ownership of wellbeing growing across the organisation and we are confident that with the support mechanisms in place and a positive culture shift, this will go from strength to strength to enable our officers and staff to be able to identify when they need support, to feel they can ask for it and help to be on hand at that point of need."