A new campaign has been launched to tackle the rising number of police officer suicides.

The STEP – Suicide Trauma Education Prevention – campaign aims to raise awareness of the daily trauma officers face and where they can access support.

Between 2011 and 2022, 242 current police officers and PCSOs in England and Wales took their own lives.

From 2021 to 2024, an estimated 80 former and current officers took their own lives.

Hampshire Police Federation chair Spencer Wragg. (Image: Hampshire Police Federation) Hampshire Police Federation chair Spencer Wragg, who is behind the national campaign, said: "The campaign is going to talk about some uncomfortable subjects but it’s important we have these conversations and understand what can happen to our colleagues when they attend these incidents.

"It’s almost as if officers – by attending suicides so regularly – can be educated as to the methodology of how to do it.

"We have to change this."

In 2023 alone, there were 7,055 deaths registered in the UK where the cause was recorded as suicide.

The campaign is calling for mandatory TRiM (Trauma Risk Management) sessions for every police officer who attends a suicide.

The STEP campaign is personal for Mr Wragg, who struggled with his own mental health six years ago.

He said: "It’s the lowest point I have ever been at. It demonstrates that it can happen to anybody.

"The message I would like to share is that it’s ok not to be ok about how you are feeling, but what you must do is reach out to someone, anyone, it doesn’t matter who."

The campaign will lobby for better support for frontline officers.