Treat people the way you want to be treated. Talk to people the way you want to be talked to. Respect is earned, not given. – Hussein Nishah.

In 2002 and the young age of 19 I was lining up at the grounds of the NSW Police Academy. With my first posting in Sydney's rural region, I was only 22 when I remember the first time I took a phone call, off duty, from a friend, Ronny. Ronny was emotional. He had a terrible day. Ronny had to deal with a Motorcycle accident where the passenger's (the son of the driver) head was decapitated, followed by attending a helicopter crash. The pilot braced himself so hard that the scene described by Ronny left a visually disturbing image.

This was extremely upsetting for Ronny. But the workplace mentality was to "be tough" "Suck it up" and make a joke about it.

I became a peer support officer (PSO) and Physical Training Instructor. My aim was to help the community & help my fellow workers.

15 years on, I was the Acting Sergeant of my team. My crew had to attend a terrible and sad job involving the loss of life. Afterwards, I gathered everyone into the room, you can only imagine the sombre state. A veteran of 30 years, Mozzie was quieter than normal. After everyone had left, I asked Mozzie to stay. I asked him if he was suicidal. He walked over to me, unclipped, dropped his gun belt on the floor and said, "The cameras stopped me from doing it".

The impact of attending to trauma is scientifically seen to cause devastation to People who don the uniform. But the culture of these workplaces is to suppress, ignore and avoid.

Sadly, people are affected.

And this can change.