Now is the time to speak

Over the past few years, I have spoken to countless police officers, police staff, former colleagues, families and professionals who have shared their experiences of mental health, wellbeing, police suicide and the professional standards process. Although everyone's circumstances are different, many of the same concerns continue to come up, particularly around the length of investigations, the impact they can have on individuals and their families, the support available to people going through them and whether the current system always gets the balance right between accountability and welfare.

These are difficult subjects to talk about, particularly for those who are still serving or who have ongoing proceedings. There is a very real fear among some people that speaking publicly about their experiences could affect their career, their reputation or a case that is still ongoing. Others have left policing altogether but still do not feel comfortable putting their name to what happened to them.

It Stops Now wants to give those people a voice.

We want to hear from serving and former police officers and staff, bereaved families, lawyers, academics, healthcare professionals and anyone else who has genuine experience or professional knowledge of these issues. We want to understand what happened, what effect it had, what could have been done differently and, most importantly, what policing can learn from it.

This is not about attacking policing or suggesting that police officers should somehow be exempt from scrutiny. Proper accountability is essential to public confidence and there will always be occasions when allegations need to be investigated thoroughly. However, it should also be possible to have an honest conversation about whether those processes are always proportionate, timely and fair, and whether enough consideration is given to the welfare of the people caught up in them.

That conversation is particularly important now.

The Government has commissioned an independent end-to-end review of the police accountability system, chaired by Dame Lynne Owens and Jason Beer KC. The review is examining the effectiveness and efficiency of the current system, including the causes of delays, the roles of Professional Standards Departments and the IOPC, how different accountability processes interact and whether changes are needed to make the system work better.

The review also provides an opportunity for the experiences of those who have actually encountered these processes to be heard. That makes the coming months incredibly important for anyone who believes there are problems that need addressing or who has ideas about how things could be done differently.

There is little value in thousands of us sitting behind keyboards saying that policing needs to change if those experiences and ideas never reach the people who have the opportunity to do something about them. Social media can be useful for starting conversations, but if we want meaningful change, we need to turn those conversations into something that can be listened to, understood and learned from.

That is one of the things It Stops Now wants to help achieve.

We want your experiences

Your story does not have to be dramatic and it does not have to be entirely negative. In fact, we also want to hear about occasions where policing got things right, because understanding good practice is just as important as identifying failures.

You might have gone through a misconduct investigation that lasted far longer than you believe was necessary, or you may have supported somebody whose mental health deteriorated significantly while they were under investigation. You might have struggled with your own mental health while serving and found it difficult to ask for help, or you may have experienced excellent support from an individual, force or department and believe that approach should be replicated elsewhere.

You may work within Professional Standards yourself and recognise problems with the system that make it difficult for investigators to resolve cases quickly and fairly. You may be a lawyer, clinician, Federation representative, academic or another professional who regularly sees the consequences of the current processes and has practical suggestions about what could improve.

We are also particularly keen to hear from families. The impact of policing, mental health difficulties and lengthy professional standards proceedings does not stop with the person wearing the uniform. Partners, children, parents and friends can find themselves living through the consequences too, yet their experiences are rarely part of the wider conversation about how these systems operate.

You can speak without being identified

We understand that one of the biggest barriers to speaking openly is the fear of repercussions, which is why sharing your experience with us does not mean that your name has to appear alongside it.

Where appropriate, we can anonymise an account by removing or changing identifying information such as names, forces, ranks, locations, dates and other details that could reasonably identify the person involved. If there are ongoing legal, misconduct, employment or other proceedings, we will take particular care around what can safely and appropriately be published.

You also do not need to consider yourself a writer. If you have an experience that you believe should be heard but do not know how to turn it into an article, tell us what happened in your own words. We can work with you to structure your account while making sure that it remains your experience and your voice.

Complaining alone will not change anything

I know there is considerable frustration within policing, and I understand why people sometimes feel that nobody is listening. However, if we want things to improve, there also has to come a point where we are prepared to do more than complain among ourselves.

If you believe a process is failing people, explain why. If you believe an investigation could have been handled differently, tell us what should have happened. If something had a serious impact on your mental health or your family, help people understand that impact. If you have worked inside the system and can see a practical solution, tell us what that solution looks like.

The purpose is not simply to build a collection of stories about everything that is wrong with policing. We want those experiences to help identify common themes, highlight areas of concern, recognise good practice and, wherever possible, put forward constructive ideas about what could work better.

It Stops Now has been created because we believe policing can do better when it comes to mental health, wellbeing, suicide and the way people are treated throughout accountability processes. We also believe that positive change is far more likely when the people who have experienced these issues are included in the conversation rather than spoken about from a distance.

We cannot do that on our own, and we do not pretend to have all of the answers. What we can do is provide a platform that brings together the experiences of officers, staff, former colleagues, families and professionals and makes it much harder for those experiences to be ignored.

With an independent review of police accountability now taking place, there is an opportunity to have these conversations at a time when the system itself is being examined. If there are things that need to change, this is the time to explain them. If there are parts of the system that work well, this is the time to protect and build upon them. If you have an idea that could prevent somebody else going through what you or your family experienced, this is the time to put it forward.

We want It Stops Now to be a movement that helps our policing family while working constructively with policing to achieve lasting change. For that to happen, we need the people who know these issues best to be prepared to share what they have seen, what they have experienced and what they believe needs to happen next.

If you have a story that needs to be heard, please share it with us. You can put your name to it, or where appropriate we can work with you to protect your identity.

The important thing is that we start talking, because this is an opportunity to make sure that the experiences of the people who have lived through these systems form part of the conversation about what comes next.