Two police officers aged 36 and 43, both fathers, ended their lives on Tuesday January 18 in Lille and Strasbourg, bringing to seven the number of police officers who have committed suicide since the beginning of January. . Thirty-five of them had done the same in 2021. The vast majority of them are men. Half the time they kill themselves with their service weapon.
“There must be a general involvement of all colleagues, whatever the corps, whatever the ranks”, valued Thierry Clair deputy general secretary of the UNSA-Police union.
Police suicides: “the word is free”, according to the journalist specializing in the police Jean-Marie Godard
This trade unionist insists on the fact that civil servants in distress must be better identified in police stations. “It concerns everyone. Everyone must be attentive to detect colleagues who are suffering, to give them the means to recover, to help them, he explains. A police officer, throughout his career, finds himself managing traumatic situations, strong in emotions. If you add to that family complications, indeed, we are really in an explosive cocktail. You really have to give yourself the means to listen and especially to react.”
Frédéric Veaux, the director general of the National Police, convenes an extraordinary CHSCT on this issue with the trade unions on Thursday afternoon, then on Friday he will bring together the associations which come to the aid of police officers in distress.
Two hotlines have been in existence for two and a half years. But it is still insufficient to respond to the malaise of being a police officer, according to several unions. The Association “SOS Police in Distress” is campaigning for the experimentation of an Israeli protocol for psychological emergency first aid, the 6C protocol. This method makes it possible to limit the risk of post-traumatic stress for police officers returning from difficult operations.
If you need help, if you are worried or if you are confronted with the suicide of a member of your entourage, you can reach 3114 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. The Suicide listening line can also be reached on 01 45 39 40 00. Other information is also available on the website of the Ministry of Solidarity and Health.