Merseyside Police officers offered training to help manage stress and overcome tiredness

Front-line police are being offered training to help them manage stress and overcome tiredness.

Merseyside Police says officers on the Emergency Incident Response Team will also be given tips and techniques on building resilience and sleeping well.

They are being offered a range of wellbeing initiatives.

Chief Superintendent Mark Wiggins, Head of Response and Resolution, said: "They see everything you can possibly imagine.

"They will see things most people wouldn't see in a whole lifetime.

"They'll see that in one week."

The idea of the week came from the National Police Chiefs’ Council. Credit: Merseyside Police

Response officers can be first at the scene of a crime or life-endangering emergency and regularly have to deal with upsetting or confrontational situations.

Now the force is highlighting their work during a special week of action.

It aims to recognise the demanding role, with special emphasis on wellbeing and making officers aware of the resources available to them.

On Merseyside, police chiefs have set up an occupational health unit and there is a new force psychologist.

Officers already have access to a range of initiatives from the force and Oscar Kilo, the National Police Wellbeing Service. Credit: Merseyside Police

Ch Supt Wiggins has spent his whole career in front-line operational roles at all ranks and knows how demanding the job is.

But he says it is also very rewarding.

"You do go off at the end of your shift thinking you've really made a difference to your community.

"It's really important we support them so they can go home to their families and when they come in on the next shift they can go out and give excellent service to their communities."

The PCC says she often hears amazing accounts of officers' bravery and selflessness.

Merseyside’s Police Commissioner Emily Spurrell said: "Response officers are the ones who day in, day out, face the most challenging and difficult situations – situations which often put their own safety in jeopardy and can affect their own wellbeing.

"It is critical that while we appreciate the amazing work they do, we make sure they have the support they need to do this incredibly demanding job."

On Thursday 16 June, Merseyside Police will publish The Ride-along, a series of videos providing an insight into the experiences of its response officers.