DRIVEN BY THOSEWHO KNOW THE JOB.
Bringing people togetherto drive change
Raise Awareness
Expose the human impact of trauma, workplace pressures and prolonged or disproportionate investigations.
Support Families
Provide officers and families with practical guidance, trusted resources and somewhere to turn.
Change
Campaign for investigations that are timely, fair, proportionate and accountable, with officer welfare taken seriously throughout.
Remember
Honour police officers we have lost and ensure the lessons from their lives and deaths are not forgotten.
why pocket sergeant is behind it stops now
We kept hearing the same stories from officers, families, researchers and those who had experienced the system first-hand. It became clear these voices needed bringing together to work create positive change.
The People Behind The Mission
A dedicated team with lived experience and a shared passion for change.
Dr Mark Brain
Dr Eleni Fixter
Dr Iain Caldwell
Gary Hayes
Rebecca House
Stephanie C. Davies
Jim Holden
Lee Jones
Dr Susannah Hickie
Lee Broadbent
Darren Ryan
Paul Shearsby
Vicki Tomkins
Michelle Websdale
Rhodri Davies
A MOVEMENT BORN FROM
listening.
THE CONVERSATIONS BEGIN
The Pocket Sergeant Podcast launched, giving serving and former officers a platform to speak openly about their experiences. The same themes kept returning: trauma, PTSD, ill-health, internal investigations and officers feeling unsupported by the organisations they served.
A NATIONAL CRISIS LINE LAUNCHES
Oscar Kilo launched a national 24/7 Mental Health Crisis Line for policing. While an important development, conversations with officers highlighted something deeper: some remained reluctant to engage with official wellbeing services because of concerns around trust and confidentiality.
TAKING CONCERNS TO POLICING'S LEADERS
Pocket Sergeant founder Paul Cooper met with senior representatives from the College of Policing and Oscar Kilo. The discussions around officer wellbeing and the pressures facing policing reinforced his belief that these issues required greater attention and a stronger voice.
POLITICAL ATTENTION GROWS
Paul met with his MP, Jonathan Brash, and shared what officers had been telling him about mental health, internal investigations and the impact these processes were having on individuals and families. Concerned by what he heard, Jonathan asked Paul to contribute to work around the police reform White Paper and wrote directly to Policing Minister Sarah Jones and Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood raising the issues on his behalf.
THE EVIDENCE BECOMES IMPOSSIBLE TO IGNORE
The Police Federation published figures showing that more than 100 police officers and staff had died by suicide between 2022 and 2025. Crucially, its data also identified a significant connection between officer suicides and misconduct or criminal investigations. The Federation reported that 47 of 70 officer suicides and 173 of 236 attempted suicides involved officers subject to misconduct or criminal investigations. In 2025, 12 of the 13 officer suicides known to the Federation involved an officer under investigation.
A LOSS THAT MADE IT PERSONAL
Former Greater Manchester Police officer Jon Ezard died by suicide. Paul knew Jon personally, and his death had a profound impact on him. It became a catalyst for action, prompting Paul to begin reaching out to people across policing, academia, mental health, campaigning and bereaved families who shared a determination to see change.
BRINGING THE VOICES TOGETHER
Those conversations revealed something powerful. Officers, former officers, families, academics, clinicians and campaigners were often describing different parts of the same problem. Many were already fighting for change, but largely separately. The idea emerged to bring them together under one independent movement.
FROM AN IDEA TO A MOVEMENT
Paul was invited by the National Police Association to Parliament, where conversations with parliamentarians demonstrated there was political interest in supporting the issues being raised. Having already spoken with many of those who would become founding members, It Stops Now was formally founded that day, bringing together lived experience, professional expertise and research under one umbrella. Work on building the movement and its website began.
Police suicides exceed 2025 total
It was reported that at least 15 police officers and staff had taken their own lives during the first nine months of 2026, already exceeding the total recorded throughout 2025. The figures prompted renewed calls for urgent action, with the STEP campaign taking its concerns directly to the Home Office and calling for consistent recording of police suicides, protected wellbeing funding, earlier trauma support and a nationwide approach to suicide prevention.
NOW WE TURN EVIDENCE INTO CHANGE
It Stops Now will take the voices, lived experiences and evidence gathered by this movement directly to those with the power to create change. We will engage and lobby MPs, government, police leaders and other influential bodies across policing, pushing for meaningful reform, better support and greater accountability. We will raise awareness. We will support. We will remember and where the evidence shows change is needed, we will campaign for change.