Why Policing Needs A New Approach

Shift work can be brutal, but it doesn't have to be. Welcome to a healthy shift. My name is Roger Sutherland, certified nutritionist, veteran law enforcement officer, and 24-7 shift worker for almost four decades. Through this podcast, I aim to educate shift workers using evidence-based methods to not only survive the rigors of shift work, but thrive. My goal is to empower shift workers to improve their health and well-being so they have more energy to do the things they love. Enjoy today's show. And welcome back to an extremely important episode of a healthy shift podcast. I'm your host, Roger Sutherland. And as you know, I'm a veteran police officer of 40 years, retired ill health with mental health um issues, PTSD, anxiety, and depression. Now I'm thrilled to announce that I'm doing really, really well now as a result of a lot of work that I've done. But I do see in the circles that I mix in and the people around that I see that there's a lot of people really struggling. And they're struggling within policing. And I communicate with agencies in the USA and agencies here in Australia, and I also chat with leading psychologists and things like that. And I thought, I've got an idea. What if I told you that we could remove most of the stigma around mental health in policing without forcing anyone to speak up and without singling anyone out and without making it a big deal? What would you say to that? And what if the solution is sitting right in front of us? What if it's so blatantly obvious that we just haven't seen it? Because it is, it's right there. And I'll tell you what it is. Stay tuned. Every police officer already does something once a year that they do not question at all. They show up, they go through the process, they get it done, and they move on. So here's the idea. What if once a year, when you have to go and do your re-qualified shoot or your operational survival training or your operational survival tactics, whatever it is that you call it in your agency every single year? What if you also had to have a mandatory check-in with a psychologist? No spotlight, no drama. It was literally just part of the process. Have a think about that. Because if you've worked in policing, you already know this. Every year you have to re-qualify. Taser, stop sticks. Now in Victoria Police, when I was a member there, we had to do it all. We didn't get a choice. You don't get to opt out, you show up, you go through the process, you get ticked off, and you go back out on the road. And that is what keeps you operational. And here's the interesting part. When Ost in VicPole, operational survival tactic training, first came in, we hated it. It was called Project Beacon, and it came out as a result of a series of shootings, and we had to do, wait for it, five days straight. Five whole days straight. Then it was reduced to three, then it was reduced to two, and now it's one day. But we have to do it every single year. It was seen as such a hassle. It was another thing that we had to do. We had to go and tick it off. It was a time away from doing what we wanted to do. But over time, something changed. It actually just became routine. And more than that, it just became a day where you're caught up with people that you hadn't seen in months. Sometimes people you hadn't seen in years. And you're in a relaxed environment where you can just chat all day. You go and have a shoot, you do a bit of tactical training, you sit into a few keynotes, go through, watch a few videos, have a bit of a chat. Same training, same requirements, but the meaning around it has all completely shifted because we've just become used to it. Now, let's compare that to the mental health support inside policing. It's available, it's everywhere. Oh, contact this number, we'll put you in touch with. Contact this number, we'll put you in touch with. Oh, here's your email. We believe you've been involved in an incident. If you need help, reach out. Now, this is not used the way it should be. And there's a reason for that. And that is the stigma around it in policing. And let's be honest about what that really means. It's not that people don't like talking about their feelings. It's a lot deeper than that. And you know it. If you're listening to this, you know it. Because there's a fear. There's a fear of being judged. There's a fear of being seen as weak. And there's a fear that if you say the wrong thing, you'll get reported, it'll go on record, your firearm will be locked away, you're non-operational. And the big one? A fear that you could actually lose your job or get pulled from operational duties. And that is real. And a lot of officers have been betrayed that way. So what happens? Police officers don't engage with the employee and assistment program that's put in place. They don't engage with the psychological services that are in place. Not because they don't need it, but because the cost just feels far too high. So mental health becomes a solo experience. You either deal with it yourself or you wait until things end up so bad that you actually have no choice. And by then, it is really hard to deal with. Trust me, I know. So here's the shift. What if we just took the choice away? Not in a forceful way at all, but in a normalized way. Look, you're already going to training once a year. You have to go to a place of training. You already sit in a room, you advance to the tactical room, you would advance to the scenario village, you advance to the range. What if you advanced through a room where one of those rooms had a psychologist in it? And every single officer had to check in and get ticked off for it. Not because something's wrong, but just because that's what you do. Everybody does it. Same as qualifying with your firearm, same as running through those drills. You just sit down, you have a conversation. It could be five minutes, it might be ten, but then you just move on. No one is singled out. No one is flagged for just being there. No fear of being seen going into the room. No fear of being seen going to an address or anything like that. Because everybody there is going through exactly the same room and getting ticked off. And that is the key. So why would this work? Because this is not about forcing people to open up. It's actually about removing the barrier to starting those conversations. Because right now, right now, as I see it, and as you will see it, the hardest step for most police is to walk through the door. And this removes that step. It makes it standard. And when something becomes standard, the stigma completely drops. And we've already seen that with the training. We've already seen that in other parts of the job. At first, it's awkward. Then it's normal. Then it just becomes part of the culture. And here's the part that matters. If that check-in was to open up one real conversation, is it not worth it? If one officer says something that they wouldn't have otherwise said, if one officer gets the support earlier instead of later, that is a massive win. And it will become the norm that people will start talking to. Now I can already hear the pushback to this. I don't care. I'm not part of the circus anymore. But I do want to help and I do want to support it. I can hear it. People won't be honest. Maybe not at first. And officers will just say, oh yeah, I'm fine. No worries. Yeah, everything's good. Some will. Oh, it'll never work in policing. Remember, I've been there. I know. I'm part of that old school from the 80s. Right? And there's people around longer than me as well. But that's what people have said about a lot of changes over the years. And here's the reality: this isn't about getting perfect engagement from day one. It's actually about shifting culture over time. What you're doing is you are planting a seed. Year one, it's awkward. Oh my god, I've got to go and see the site. Year two, it becomes less awkward. By year five, it just becomes normal and part of culture. This is what we do. And over time, that trust builds if the systems work properly. Because the system shows that this isn't about actually catching people out, it's actually opening the door for a conversation. Do you want to talk about it? It's about supporting them. From an organizational point of view, this is really simple. Like, really simple. It's structured, it's actually measurable, and it shows a clear commitment to officer well-being. Not just posters on a wall, not just oh, reach out if you need help, but an actual system that meets officers where they already are at training in a familiar environment with no spotlight at all. Now I know this won't be for everyone, and I can hear you now, negative Nancy's. I understand that. But if you are one of those officers that just walked into that room and said, no, I'm fine, everything's good, and a psych asked you a few questions and then you walked out of the room, all power to you. That's fantastic. But there may be someone. I know of many instances. I've had people reach out to me recently, a number of them, that want to know what happened to the well-being hubs down here in Victoria. Because they walked into the well-being hub and they've they buckled. It just all became too much. So, what about if you walked in and the question was asked and then it was asked again and you got the support and the help that you needed? Because the most difficult qu the most difficult thing that you will do is to walk through the door. I know there will be resistance. I get it. That is literally part of policing culture worldwide. But I also know this that doing nothing keeps things exactly the same. And right now, too many officers are carrying far too much on their own. So maybe the answer isn't telling people to speak up, maybe it is creating a system where they don't have to make that first move of their own volition. Now I would love to hear what you think about this. Would it work? Would it fail? What would you need to change to make this viable? Because I know how a system works within VicPole, Victoria Police. I know that you could literally have a psych sitting in a room that everyone had to walk into and walk out of every time you went through it. Five minutes, ten minutes, doesn't matter. So do you think it'd work? Do you think it'd just catastrophically fail? What do you think would need to change to make it viable? In the show notes, there is an opportunity to text what you thought. It's anonymous, I can't see the number that it comes from. Nobody can see the number that it actually comes from, but you can text through there. I think it just gives you the last three digits or something, and you can just write and just say, I think you're talking shit. I don't think that will ever work. Or oh my god, why hadn't we thought of this before? I love it. I actually really, really like this idea. It may have opened conversations for a lot of people in the past if it had become the norm. Now I read every message that comes through, and I personally think that this is a conversation that is worth having. If you've listened to this and this really resonates with you, if you think what a fantastic idea, send this podcast up the line. It is 15 valuable minutes for someone that may be able to bring change for you. Pass it on because I would love to see this come into place. Thank you for listening. If you enjoyed this episode, be sure to subscribe so you get notified whenever a new episode is released. It would also be ever so helpful if you could leave a rating and review on the app you're currently listening on. If you want to know more about me or work with me, you can go to ahealthyshift.com. I'll catch you on the next one.