Over the past year, Samaritans, alongside our supporters, has called on the government to introduce mandatory suicide prevention training for frontline emergency service workers as part of our United with the frontline campaign.
Today, we're celebrating getting one step closer to making that happen.
Last month, the government published its Policing Reform White Paper, which states it will:
“Mandate protected time for trauma and suicide prevention training for all new recruits and supervisors to further strengthen resilience.”
Next, we're joining the Minister for Policing and Crime, Home Office officials and police representatives to discuss how this commitment can be taken forward.
Why suicide prevention training for police officers matters
The need for high-quality, consistent training cannot be overstated.
There's currently no mandatory, in-depth suicide prevention training for every police officer in England. Officers are not routinely trained to:
- Spot the signs of suicidality
- Open up a compassionate, non-judgmental conversation about suicide
- Make a safe suicide intervention where necessary
Police officers themselves can also be at risk – the role exposes them to sustained pressure and trauma.
In 2022, 18 police officers in England died by suicide. Officers have also reported low levels of emotional energy — an indicator of burnout — and moderate to high levels of anxiety and depression.
Thousands of suicide-related incidents — but inconsistent prevention training
Last year, Samaritans sent Freedom of Information requests to all police forces in England. We asked:
- How many suicide-related call-outs they attend each year
- What suicide prevention or mental health training they provide
- Whether that training is mandatory
- What wellbeing support is in place
Data is not recorded consistently across forces - and this is a real problem. However, it's clear that police are attending thousands of suicide-related incidents every year.
In response to our Freedom of Information requests, one force told us that the term ‘suicide’ was recorded in 27,446 incidents between 2020 and 2024.
Of the 39 police forces in England:
- 27 said they have some form of mental health or suicide prevention training
- Only 11 have any form of mandatory training
Even where training is mandatory, it's often limited to certain groups of officers rather than the entire workforce. Training depth and quality also varies significantly, and much of it isn't suicide-specific.
Our next step: making training mandatory for all police staff
We welcome the Government’s commitment to mandating protected time for suicide prevention training.
However, this training must:
- Be available to all police staff, not just new recruits and supervisors
- Cover responding to suicide-related incidents
- Support officers to recognise when a colleague may be in crisis
We'll continue working with the Home Office to help shape a training offer that is consistent, high-quality and evidence-based.
There's still more to do to ensure that all frontline emergency workers have access to high-quality suicide prevention training and workplace support. Help us keep up the fight by signing up as a Samaritans campaigner today.
Elliot Colburn
Public Affairs and Campaigns Manager