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Studies of policing and their wellbeing often focus on critical incidents. These would be the officer-involved shooting incidents, or if they have to deal with some graphic crime scene. But what might surprise some listeners is that an officer will also deal with organizational stressors that can be equally or even more harmful than a traumatic event. Joining the podcast today is Dr. Susannah Hickie, who specializes in trauma, mental health, and organizational stress in high‑risk and security‑sensitive occupations, particularly within policing and defense. She completed her PhD at the University of Cambridge’s Institute of Criminology, where she conducted extensive qualitative research on PTSD, trauma, mental health, and organizational stress among police officers in Northern Ireland. Her recent study is “‘The enemies are now inside the station’: trauma, organizational stress and institutional support in frontline policing.”

Main Topics

• Officers in the Police Service of Northern Ireland avoid seeking mental health services because of barriers inherent to the organization.
• There is a sense of moral injury based on the agency’s leadership.
• Blue Lights is, unfortunately, accurate.

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