WA police officer says his pleas for help while suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder were ignored

A “mentally broken” police officer tormented by nightmares that have finally driven him out of the force after almost three decades claims WA Police have ignored his pleas for help. The officer, who has worked across regional and metropolitan WA, said he is suffering Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and is haunted by bad dreams up to seven times a night based on his experiences as a coronial officer attending fatal crashes, suicides and other deaths. “I dream about all the deaths I have attended. I see the faces and crash sites of all the fatal crashes I have dealt with — babies, teenagers who have (suicided), young P plate drivers who died on the roads,” said officer, who wants to remain anonymous. He also revealed the mental torment has included nightmares where he is the one “shooting and stabbing people to death”. The 47-year-old is leaving the force after 27 years, claiming he was not given adequate mental health support by the Force or the police union despite sending multiple emails seeking assistance. “Coppers aren’t allowed to show weakness or seek help,” he told The West Australian. “We tough it out. We tough it out until we break, and when we break WAPOL don’t believe us. They say we are only putting on an act to get out of something.” His frank admissions highlight the hidden toll officers suffer and comes after The West Australian revealed earlier this month the tragic suicide deaths of two policemen. Randall Moulden, a sergeant who ran his own police station in the Great Southern, died by suicide on June 29 only days after another officer who worked in the metropolitan area as a traffic officer took his own life. Sgt Moulden’s heartbroken widow Janean said her husband “couldn’t carry the pain of the trauma of what he had experienced over the 30 years as a serving police officer”. The latest victim of policing trauma showed The West several emails pleading for help which he says did not elicit a response. In one the officer said he was “shattered and gutted” with the way he is being treated by WA Police. “My concern is for the past 27 years I have given everything I can to this organisation. I lived and breathed policing. I was a workaholic,” he wrote. “It has finally taken its toll on me and I have broken. “It makes me relive what I have done and attended to, and makes me believe through the nightmares that I am living it ... they are all very real.” The man’s father, himself an ex-policeman, also emailed WA Police and the union asking for help for his son who “would have become another statistic” of suicide, if it wasn’t for the support of his friends and family. In a statement, WA Police said the health and welfare of all its officers was of “paramount importance” and it had a range of support services and programs available to officers and their families. Programs included an injury coordination and support service unit, a chaplaincy program, a psychology services unit and a peer support program. “WA Police Force has drawn on industry best practice research and recommendations, independent external audit/review, and put more choice in the hands of those police officers and staff so they can make informed decisions on their own support actions,” the statement read. The WA Police Union said it had a “24/7 emergency director” for members. Acting president Mick Kelly said: “There is a wide range of support and excellent services available for police officers available through the WA Police Force and WAPU website.”