Hampshire and Sussex Police Federations call for government's help in preventing officer suicides
At least 15 police officers have taken their own lives so far in 2026
With officer suicides in 2026 already surpassing 2025’s figures, Hampshire and Sussex Police Federations have appealed for help from the government to tackle the issue.
Last year, 13 police officers took their own lives while that number is already up to 15 this year with it only being September. The issue has prompted the two neighbouring federations to come together and appeal for changes such as properly recording suicide numbers, provide more funding for mental health support and pushing police chiefs to roll out a suicide prevention app.
Spencer Wragg, Chair of Hampshire Police Federation and founder of the STEP (Suicide Trauma Education Prevention) campaign, and Sussex Police Federation Chair Raffaele Cioffi, delivered a letter to the policing minister as they warned “this issue is not going away”.
Speaking outside the Home Office, Spencer said: “This issue is really important, and we need to understand it better. Recording it is only one side of it. Suicide is sometimes really difficult to talk about, it comes with real stigma, and people feel concerned about putting themselves forward and actually asking for help.”
Despite this, Spencer said that an increasing number of police officers and staff were reporting that they had attempted suicide showing that people were more confident in speaking out and “getting help”.
Also signing the letter were Michelle Websdale, former wife of Sussex Sergeant Ben Websdale, and Nena Hodges, sister of West Mercia PC Dane Roleston-Lowe; two men who took their own lives last year.
Nena said: "This cause is deeply personal to me because I lost my beloved brother, Dane, to suicide after he had dedicated more than 28 years of his life to serving with West Mercia Police.
"The pain of losing him is something my family will carry for the rest of our lives. Dane was not a statistic, a number or a headline — he was a brother, a son, a father, a friend and a much-loved member of the policing family.
"We cannot bring him back, but we can fight to make sure that other families do not have to experience the devastating loss that we have. I am speaking out for Dane, for his colleagues, and for every police officer who is struggling in silence.
“They spend their lives protecting and supporting others; when they are at their darkest, they deserve the same compassion, protection and support in return. Enough is enough. We must act before another family is left asking whether more could have been done to save the person they love."
Statistics from the Police Federation of England and Wales show that more than 100 police officers and staff died by suicide between 2022 and 2025. At least 70 police officers have died during that time and there have been more than 200 attempted suicides.
47 of 70 police officer suicides and 173 of 236 attempted suicides between 2022 and 2025 are attributable to officers involved in misconduct or criminal investigations against them. In 2025 12 of 13 police officer suicides involved officers under investigation.
Raffaele said that there was a higher risk of suicide when “a police officer’s home life and work life become completely imbalanced and there’s a crisis in both” and that police forces were not taking the risk seriously enough.
Referring to the rise in suicides, he said: “It is simply unacceptable for us to stand by and let that continue without making representations to those who can truly make a change.”
The letter delivered to the Home Office called for the Government to take the below actions:
- Require all police forces to accurately record the number of police officers and staff who die by suicide.
- Push Chief Constables for the roll-out of the Stay Alive app – provided by the Grassroots Suicide Prevention charity – to the mobile phones of all police officers and staff.
- Drive for a commitment from the NHS to provide greater mental health and wellbeing support to police officers who are at risk.
- Force police forces to provide early intervention and support for officers when it is needed, including mandatory referrals for officers to trauma support when they are under investigation for their conduct and for officers who have attended a suicide.
- Provide a commitment to provide ring-fenced funding for police officer wellbeing support, on top of the budgets already given to police forces.
- Review the purpose of Professional Standards Departments and the Independent Office for Police Conduct, and the impact of their work on officers under investigation.
If police officers and staff are struggling they can also contact the Mental Health Crisis Line (call 0300 131 2789) and Samaritans (116 123).