Update on Cumbria Police training involvement

In July last year, we published a Blog by SBS North Cumbria facilitator, Sharon Tweedie, about the work that she and others from SBS were doing with new recruits to Cumbria Police. You can read it here. Now below, one of those other volunteers, Cath Tate, reports on the recent sessions and the developments that are making a difference.

In March, myself (Cath Tate) and John Purdie met up at Carleton Hall, Cumbria Police’s HQ near Penrith, to assist the police on their traffic role play day for new recruits. Sharon Tweedie usually attends, but John kindly steps in to cover if one of us is unavailable.

What really happens and what has this traffic role play got to do with death by suicide?

Well, a while ago in the SBS meetings, it became apparent that interaction with the Police, especially when being informed of a death, has a big impact on people and their families. Sometimes this interaction is not helpful and at times has made the experience even more difficult. In response, John Brown, former Chairman of SBS, approached the Police to see if we could work with them to make the experience better.

Myself, Sharon and John Brown held meetings with them to see what this would look like. Originally, we offered to go and give a talk, with question and answer sessions around suicide, but there were worries about how sustainable this would be long term and issues around what would be most beneficial for the police and recruits moving forward. It was agreed that myself and Sharon would record videos of our contrasting experiences with the Police at the time our loved ones died and these would be used with the recruits to promote discussion of what had been done well and what could be improved and also as a starting point for a discussion of the issues around suicide death.

As it was all new to us all, it was decided that we would attend on their traffic role play day and assist on a particular scenario. What happens is that the recruits are notified on the radio that they have to deliver the news of a death to a particular address. The husband has died in a car crash on the road and the recruits are tasked with telling his wife. They are told some details but can ask control for more. They are all very nervous at the responsibility of what they have been asked to do as they realise that one day they will have to do this with a real family. They often make mistakes such as not identifying themselves, not using the name of the person who has died, or just being unsure of what words to say or how to conduct themselves.

The role of SBS is to watch and listen to their delivery of the news, the way they conduct themselves and the words they use. Then, alongside their police trainer, we give gentle, supportive feedback about what they have done well, but also ways they could improve their delivery the next time. For the first couple of sessions, the police trainer (who acts as the person receiving the news) gave the standard response of crying to each recruit. However, as the recruits were speaking to each other and passing on details of the scenario, this evolved and the trainer now responds differently each time, perhaps angry, in denial or even refusing to let the recruits into the role play “flat”.

Cath Tate and john Purdie, both volunteers with SBS, were involved in the most recent training day

John Purdie is particularly good at assisting in the role play, with inventive new ideas each time. This is especially important as the recruits have told us that they expect people to be shocked or sad, but had not thought about the full range of reactions that they could be faced with when they attend to break the news. There are other issues that we discuss, such as checking if there are children in the house or to be picked up from school, ensuring that they leave the person with someone to sit with them when they have to leave and also about what happens next and leaving details for the person to be able to contact them later. We are able to give feedback about how they work with their partner, supporting each other through a tough task.

As volunteers, our involvement in something like this seems to be a good investment of time and effort early in the careers of these Police officers. We have had feedback from the recruits to say that they really appreciate the opportunity to make their mistakes in a role play situation rather than at a real incident. They say it has given them much more insight into what not to say or do and how their actions can have a big impact on the family because of the way they are told.

Trainers who have acted as the person receiving the message have told us that they have also learnt from our feedback and that this has improved their knowledge and ability to support and train recruits in this important area. Most of all, everyone involved from the Police appreciates our input as they know we come from a place of real experience and understanding.

There has also been feedback from Every Life Matters that this initiative is making a difference to the families in our county as the qualified recruits are now better equipped to undertake the difficult job of delivering a death message in a clear but compassionate way. It is making that experience better not just for the families but also the recruits and Police themselves as they are taking our feedback on board and acting accordingly.

Personally, I feel very proud to be involved in an initiative that makes a difference where it really matters, in our area and with families who are unfortunate enough to receive such life changing news.