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Dr Sarah-Jane Lennie, Associate Professor at the Centre of Excellence for Equity in Uniformed Public Services at Anglia Ruskin University, joins the Forensic Focus Podcast to talk about mental health and well-being in policing — and the often-overlooked toll on police families. Drawing on 17 years as a police officer before moving into academia, Dr Lennie shares the moment her own mental health forced a career-defining decision, and how that experience shaped her research into the culture of silencing, stigma, and emotional masking that still pervades policing today. She explains why the context of policing — the trauma, threat, and violence — is not what harms officers most; it's how they're treated by the organisation afterwards.
Dr Lennie describes the isolation partners face, the vicarious trauma they absorb while debriefing their officers, the intergenerational patterns that pull children of police into the same job with the same emotional rules, and the practical support families are asking for. She also discusses the Leapwise National Police Wellbeing Survey, the shift away from "resilience" messaging, the role of the academic working group at Anglia Ruskin, and why properly evaluating interventions is the only way to secure lasting change.
#PoliceWellbeing #PoliceFamilies #MentalHealth #PoliceMentalHealth #VicariousTrauma #DigitalForensics #dfir
⏱️ Timestamps
00:00 Introducing Dr Sarah-Jane Lennie
02:40 From Policing to Academia
03:51 Mental Health Breaking Point
06:54 Culture of Silence
11:13 Evidence Into Action
12:44 Biggest Challenges Today
13:59 How Families Are Impacted
18:38 Why Families Are Overlooked
19:29 Support Families Need
22:31 Kids and Hidden Trauma
26:42 Stress at Home
28:07 Emotional Silencing
29:23 Punitive Help-Seeking
32:46 Investigations and Isolation
33:32 Academic Working Group
35:32 Evidence Into Practice
46:41 Research Trust Barriers
51:57 Final Message
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🎧 Video/Transcript: https://www.forensicfocus.com/podcast/policings-well-being-problem-stigma-isolation-and-the-retention-crisis/
📝 Show Notes
Centre of Excellence for Equity in Uniformed Public Services (CEEUPS) – https://www.aru.ac.uk/research/our-research-institutes-and-centres/centre-of-excellence-for-equity-in-uniformed-public-services
Dr Sarah-Jane Lennie (email) – Sarah-Jane.Lennie@aru.ac.uk
National Police Well-Being Survey 2025 – https://oscarkilo.org.uk/national-police-wellbeing-survey-2025-deep-dive-psychological-safety
Oscar Kilo Thank You Film – https://youtu.be/f-WUJeQG_E4?si=1PgwYD24n58T0M3z
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