FOI 939/25

Request

I would be grateful if you could provide the following information for your force for each of the past 10 calendar years (2015 to 2025 inclusive):

1. Police Officer Suicides

• The number of police officers (serving or recently serving) who have died by suicide.

2. Investigations at Time of Death

Of those officers who died by suicide:

• How many were under investigation by your Professional Standards Department (PSD)?
• How many were under investigation by the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC)?

3. Occupational and Personal Context (if available and anonymised)

For each officer who died by suicide, please provide (where available and without compromising privacy):

• Their role or department (e.g., frontline, CID, custody, firearms).
• Their length of service.
• Whether they had accessed internal mental health or wellbeing services.
• Whether they were on sick leave or had recently returned from sick leave.
• Whether they were subject to misconduct or disciplinary proceedings.
• Age, gender, and ethnicity (if recorded and anonymised).

Response 

South Wales Police does not have a category of ‘suicide’ as a reason for a police officer’s employment ending – this would be categorised as a death while active. In relation to former police officers, this information is also not recorded.

Therefore, South Wales Police does not hold the information to answer your request.

The Counselling and Trauma Team are a part of the Occupational Health, Safety and Wellbeing Team and are generally available during office hours. As the police service is a 24-hour service, there are arrangements through the Control Room and our 24/7 EAP (Employee Assistance Programme) service out of hours.

Should a member of staff or police officer disclose they have suicidal thoughts, managers may need to respond and take immediate action. This could be referral to Occupational Health or Counselling and Trauma but, if the circumstances present imminent risk, they may need to directly contact specialist services for emergency support. As a police officer or member of staff, they will be aware of support that is available, as for a member of the public where there is a similar “concern for welfare”. The Counselling and Trauma Team provide presentations to new cohorts of student constables outlining the support services available and there are regular reminders included on South Wales Police Intranet.