NSW Greens’ Shoebridge Says Police Vulnerable To Psychological Disorders, Vows To Protect The Protectors

Policemen are not immune to disorders, particularly Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder or PTSD; hence, they must not be excluded from official police honour roll, according to David Shoebridge, NSW Greens Member of Parliament. He headed the launch of a comprehensive roadmap for reform on police psychological injuries on Wednesday.

Shoebridge sympathised that too many police suffer psychological injury at work and too often, they are not afforded the support necessary for them to cope with their injuries. He added that if people continue to expect police to run into danger on behalf of the public, the latter must be there to assist the police when injured.

“Psychological injuries are not second class injuries and must not be treated that way by the existing police culture and legal structure,” Shoebridge bemoaned, referring to a report that police who suffered from PTSD protested against the discriminating treatment they were given by NSW Police Force.

The MP continued that routine exposure of police officers to crime scenes and certain violence indicated that many of said officers develop PSTD but often, police force culture ignored the same by treating the suffering officers like disposable assets. He opined that there are not enough police specifically at the senior levels who understand that PTSD is a consequence of modern day policing and people are vulnerable to psychological injuries. Accordingly, they need support and protection.

Besides the isolation within the police force, those who suffered from PTSD and subsequently filed for insurance claims have their woes compounded by insurance companies such as MetLife, which utilise heavy covert surveillance on claimants. As if that is not enough, it takes five years for insurance companies to process police officer’s claims for compensation.

Sydney Morning Herald reports police suicides and psychological injuries are largely concealed, and psychologists who treat police with PTSD cautioned that its symptoms are often aggravated by exuberant covert surveillance. Shoebridge believed anybody, including the police and armed forces, when already afflicted with PTSD but continues to have exposure to trauma, will only exasperate the disorder, ultimately rendering it debilitating. Shoebridge’s roadmap for reform seeks to alter the way PTSD should be managed.

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