Police who are psychologically injured on the job and who take their own lives should be included on the official police honour roll under a blueprint for reforming the way post traumatic stress disorder is managed.
The "roadmap for reform" includes a recommendation for limits on the use of covert surveillance by insurance companies that process claims for compensation from police with psychological injuries. It also calls for a cross-party parliamentary inquiry into the treatment of psychologically injured police.
As highlighted by Fairfax Media, police with post traumatic stress disorder have complained they are often isolated by the NSW Police Force and face excessive covert surveillance by insurance companies who take up to four or five years to process their claims for compensation.
Police suicides and pyschological injuries are largely hidden and psychologists who treat police with post traumatic stress disorder have warned that its symptoms are often exacerbated by excessive covert surveillance.
The proposals for reform are among 11 recommendations developed by the NSW Greens in response to a parliamentary forum last year on the largely hidden problem of police with psychological injuries.
NSW Greens MP David Shoebridge, who hosted the parliamentary forum, on Wednesday released the roadmap for reform, which was developed in consultation with psychologists, lawyers and injured police.
He said the routine exposure of police officers to crime scenes and violence has meant that many develop post traumatic stress disorder which is often ignored within a tough police force culture.
He said NSW police often treats its officers like disposable assets.
"Once injured they are thrown on the scrap heap," he said.
"There aren't enough police, particularly at the senior levels, who get it, who understand that it is a consequence of modern day policing. People will have psychological injuries. They need to be supported and they need to be protected.
"Some of the toughest people can suffer psychological injuries. We need to respect them, we need to support them."
Mr Shoebridge said insurers including Metlife had delayed in deciding cases and had used aggressive surveillance methods that could aggravate an officer's psychological injury.
"We know with post traumatic stress disorder, whether it's in the police or the armed forces, repeated exposure to trauma aggravates and leads to psychological injury becoming debilitating," he said.
Acting Premier and Police Minister Troy Grant said he was "happy to consider any new ideas in Mr Shoebridge's roadmap and will be seeking detailed advice on this from the NSW Police Force.
"The NSW government and police force are working hard to ensure the psychological wellbeing of our police officers and we already are doing much of what Mr Shoebridge has recommended."
The proposed reform package includes the following recommendations:
* Police who die as a result of a psychological injury suffered in the line of duty must be included on the official NSW Police honour roll.
* The backlog of police claims processed by the insurer Metlife must be resolved.
* Clear limits on covert surveillance by insurance companies of police with psychological injuries.
* Introduction of a mandatory time frame for determination of insurance claims for police with psychological injuries.
* NSW Police should improve training and support for police to identify and respond to post traumatic stress disorder.
* NSW Police should track cumulative trauma suffered by officers.
* Establish a family support unit to help family members of officers with psychological injury.
* Change police culture to ensure police are supported and not dismissed when they report a psychological injury.
Belinda Neil, who was medically retired from the NSW Police in 2005, two years after she was diagnosed with post traumatic stress disorder, welcomed the recommendations, saying new police recruits through to senior police needed better training in mental health.
As a former homicide investigator and hostage negotiator, she never stopped to process the crime scenes she attended before moving on to the next task.
It wasn't until she was diagnosed with post traumatic stress disorder that she realised she was ill.
"I had a number of symptoms prior to that, including flashbacks, emotional numbness, but I never in my wildest dreams thought it was post traumatic stress disorder," she said.
"When you start having flashbacks, like your children being murdered in their beds, you don't tend to tell others at work because you fear you are weak".
Josh Mennen, a senior associate with law firm Maurice Blackburn, said the proposed recommendations would provide relief to psychologically injured former police officers who had suffered delays of up to five years in their insurance claims.
"Our clients were injured through their work serving the people of NSW, and they need support to recover," he said. "Instead, for many of them, the insurer Metlife has added to their trauma by using invasive surveillance techniques and an aggressive delay or decline attitude to insurance claims. This needs to change."
