Lisburn PSNI officer says feeling the pressure 'is not whinging, it's human'

A police officer in Lisburn has hit out at criticism of those feeling under pressure in the service.

It's after comments the men and women in uniform should suck it up and stop whinging.

The issue came to light after the Chief Constable told an officer on social media to 'dry your eyes, do the job or move on"

That sparked a lot of criticism and George Hamilton later apologised for last weekend's comments on twitter.

However the issue has hit the headlines and in a more recent post, a police officer says nothing can prepare recruits for the reality of what they deal with.

"I, like many of my colleagues, joined this job to make a difference, to do a role which I feel is a positive contribution to society but basically, to cut through all those buzz words, in a nut shell I, we, joined to help people. What that help is can vary greatly from person to person but we try our best."

They went on to mention the horror of attending a fatal car collision, sexual and child abuse cases, suicide incidents - before being called out again.

"I, like my colleagues, am not that niave not to realise that when we joined this job that parts of it was going to include what many would consider the horrors of life.

"It didn't take long before having to witness a family fall apart as their teenage daughter was receiving CPR after hanging herself and a wife scrambling to get to her husband in a smashed up car who's already dead."

Lisburn PSNI officer says feeling the pressure 'is not whinging, it's human'

"I've been to houses where women have been raped and where children have been abused and more than once have had to change out of a blood stained uniform mid shift after dealing with a bad assault or a person that had been knocked down and lay dying as we tried to stop the flow of blood.

"I've watched as colleagues have returned from a cot death keeping a brave face but needing to take that little bit of time to themselves with a cup of tea before continuing on, because the calls don't stop and the next person looking us, through no fault of their own, doesn't think what we've just came from."

"Yes, we've been trained for certain events, incidents, call them what you may, but talking to that role player or doing that course does not prepare you for the reality of some of what we have to deal with. People have left because of it and many have "that call" that stays with them whether they talk about it or not. To ask for more help, to feel under pressure at times, or that things are just getting too much and being affected by what we do is not whinging, it's human.

The person in uniform says to ask for help or to feel the strain of the job isn't whinging but says it's human.