“But for the Grace of God go I, the mantra of the thousands of serving and former Police who are or were exposed to the worst possible and unimaginable trauma and are not diagnosed with PTSI.
But for the many current and future sufferers of this debilitating injury while performing their duty to the State, raises the question, ‘Are we looking after them for their service? We would argue – not very well.
Another question is, why do some serving and retired police officers not suffer any apparent mental injury, but others do?
As with all injuries, severity depends on multiple unquantifiable factors. Still, we would proffer that all serving and former Police do suffer from post-traumatic stress. But, like any other injury, the individual reacts in a multitude of ways and often not to a degree where they need medical intervention as they cope with the low or no impact from the injury.
We would also argue that the trauma experienced may well be the catalyst, but poor management practices escalate the impact, whereas competent management would mitigate its severity.
The problem with this injury is that outwardly it is not easily recognised, and victims, to all intents and purposes, are often living a normal life, but the truth is buried very deep, and what they live through can be manifestly cruel and unforgiving.
Although these injuries have long been recognised, the failure in leadership within the Force for sufferers has been woefully prevalent.
For some time now, a specific ward at Austin Health, Ward 17, has been dealing with the most severe cases in inadequate circumstances. Waiting times for admission to the highly specialised ward vary, but they should not exceed a reasonable benchmark.
Everyone who has had the need for this service has nothing but the highest praise for their treatment and the dedication of the Clinical and Support Staff of this unit.
Ward 17 is the only one of its type in the mental health public sector, with the only other like facility being part of St John of God Langmore Centre, a private health provider that also specialises in Military Veterans, Police and other Emergency Services for patients with acute PTSI. The difference is that Langmore Centre services Eastern Victoria, where Ward 17 serves the whole State.
The problem is, however, that those who should be supporting the Statewide public service and helping it to expand to cope with the increased demand going forward, to avoid waiting times from exploding, are sadly lacking.
Waiting to gain access to this service can be detrimental to the injured victims. The facility will not cope with additional patients as the size of the Force increases, causing an inevitable rise in demand on all PTSI support services.
While serious effort must be applied to reducing the severity of PTSI, the resources must be expanded to cope.
Expanding the Ward 17 facility, which is currently at capacity, is not a simple matter of adding a few extra beds, but a new wing needs to be added to accommodate the demand.
The Force, over the last decade, has treated the Ward as something that exists for which they have no responsibility, but the truth is the opposite: they have a responsibility to the members and to former members who need this specialist service.
The Force employed them, exposing them to the cause of their injury so their responsibility doesn’t end when their service ceases either morally or legally.
Moreover, the Force, it can be argued, has failed to provide mechanisms that identify the early onset of the Injury, and in doing so, injury mitigation does not occur, aggravating the failure of VicPol to take responsibility for the injury that can be argued they caused.
Like all organisations, there are varying degrees of competence of managers at all ranks that can contribute adversely or positively to the severity of the injury.
The Force had a policy derived from a review in 2018/19 of now questionable value; however, the architects of this review omitted a critical component. The ability to measure the effectiveness of policy changes.
There is a fundamental principle with all policy, and that is if you want to see the policy succeed, ensure that it is measured and measurable.
The Force has been historically capable in measuring Crime, the Road Toll and other operational functions; however, it has continually failed, particularly over the last decade, to even attempt to measure other critical organisational functions.
There is only one way to understand if an organisation is functioning well, and that is to measure the functional components diligently; otherwise, the executive is operating on the ‘Vibe’ of The Castle, esq.
The Policy we refer to, although not to flash, fell into the hole somewhere along the line, along with the other failed Policies, and that is a reflection on the Chief Commissioner of the time. The effort and time applied to the Policy was no more than a box-ticking exercise,
As a lot of the serious impacts of PTSI occur after the member has either been discharged or retired, it is grossly improper that the Force ignores responsibility for their demise. This problem is not so much the Force’s lack of willingness to help, but the loss of connection between the Force and retired members, something that must be addressed.
Not only is the Force guilty of malfeasance at times, but probably more so the Police Association.
Particularly former Police who suffer PTSI have paid their union dues for the duration of their career, but when they suffer, we are advised the Association does not want to know them, and that is a disgrace.
Policing is really an employment where there are takers and users, and the victims injured in this State are the losers.
Victoria Police currently has roughly 22,000 employees.- 17804 actual police. Applying the nationally cited 11% PTSI prevalence suggests that just under 2,000 current employees potentially experience PTSI symptoms at any given time. However, this is an estimate rather than an official Victoria Police figure, a figure the Force should reasonably be expected to be aware of.
At a time in the Forces’ history where demands on its services are heightened and very unlikely to abate, the issue of reducing PTSI must be a priority.
PTSI is the train barreling towards disaster.
Reducing the prevalence and severity of PTSI in the Force is an occupational health issue within policing, with non-negotiable responsibility for victims who are no longer serving.
A focused management of this issue has substantial cost benefits apart from the moral responsibilities. Reducing the severity of PTSI will directly impact the ability of the Force to perform its function.
There has been a tendency to see the ending of a Police member’s career due to PTSI as somewhat of a relief for Force management, but in reality, most discharges are a management failure. This management relief is a narrow and jaundiced view of reality, as the cost of replacing these trained members is excessively high.
The loss of these members and their experience, coupled with the time required to replace them, is inordinate.
This raises the issue of the importance of a Force Reserve where members can get some respite from the daily exposure to risk factors. A member’s career can be readjusted to minimise any PTSI issues.
The reintroduction of on-campus training, moving from the current model of online training, would be a huge benefit for members. The efficiency of stations and workplaces would improve, with members able to focus on their policing role without being distracted by training obligations or desires, and members would gain exposure to the wider Force, thereby improving Force culture.
Online training was introduced to improve the efficiency of training delivery, not its effectiveness.
Exposure to peers is the best self-evaluation tool available to any employee, and in Policing, this can only be achieved with on-campus training for the duration of a Police member’s career.
The break from the front line would prove invaluable to members’ long-term mental health, as would the ability of trainers to identify members who may be at risk and apply early intervention strategies.
The silent issue is the impact of the Force insurers on the welfare of PTSI sufferers in an adversarial relationship that can further damage the victim. Anecdotally, we have been told of actions by the Insurer where the injured member has been effectively sanctioned, and that must cease.
Telling PTSI sufferers that they can no longer work not only within the Force, but anywhere, is unconscionable and is a sanction for having the injury. This is particularly cruel given their injury impacts their character; they are effectively being told they are a lesser person; talk about being thrown onto the rubbish heap,
The CAA is exploring the feasibility of creating a forum where sufferers, clinicians, the Government, the Police Union, and the Force can come together with the Force Insurers to develop strategies to address the needs of the Police adequately and minimise the impact of work-related stress.
The objective is not only to benefit members and their families but to reduce the impact of PTSI on Force personnel resources.
Addressing this issue may avoid the inevitable class action against the Government, the Force and the Insurers for past failures.
There are many angry former Police out there…
The irony is that if the 2018-19 policy had been properly implemented, even that flawed version with proper corporate governance oversight achieved by measuring the effectiveness against regular reviews and accountability, many Police may not have succumbed to serious PSTI requiring medical intervention.
The major flaw was not implementing a mechanism to measure the efficacy of the proposed initiatives.
As with most corporate initiatives, if you don’t measure it, how can you determine its efficacy?
Therein lies a serious systemic failure within the Force.
Author Ivan Ray- on behalf of the CAA..He is Co-founder and Deputy Chair/CEO of the CAA, a former Police Inspector with 32 years of service in Metro Uniform, Traffic Metro and Highway, Patrol, Crime Cars, and CIB. Former Editor of Police Life and long-serving Public Relations Officer of VicPol. Founder and Life Member of the Blue Light Disco movement, and completed his Police career as an Inspector after 6 years as a Patrol Officer. He then moved into the private sector, running his own Business for 20 years until retirement.
