Patrick Cairns, our CEO, was recently invited* to the World Police Summit in Dubai to speak about Police Officer Wellbeing and Resilience on behalf of the PTC.
The WPS is an annual event mainly focussed on technology and innovation and how it can be utilised to good effect in the prevention and detection of crime and law enforcement. The event is a hugely influential international forum with thousands of participants from 112 countries and over one hundred Police Chiefs from around the world. These included the Commissioner of the NYPD, the LAPD and the Commissioners/Deputy Commissioners from the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, New Zeeland Police and a host of Police Chiefs from Europe, Africa, and South America.
For the first time ever, there was a substantial part of the Summit dedicated to Police Officer Trauma, mental health, resilience, and wellbeing. Patrick was invited to speak and contribute to one of the key forums discussing police leadership and well being and how it can be improved, and of course to talk at length about the Police Treatment Centres.
There was also an opportunity to present to the Dubai Police Happiness Council about the PTC (which seems a very surreal name to those of us in support of UK policing), but is a Council specifically set up to support their Police Officers mental health and wellbeing and as you would expect from the Dubai police is hugely well resourced.
What was absolutely clear, is that there is nothing like the PTC anywhere else in the world, and everyone that Patrick spoke to was both envious and jealous of the PTC and wished that they had something similar in their own country. It is sometimes easy to take the PTC for granted, but it is worthwhile remembering that we are hugely fortunate to have a charity that provides such care, treatment, and support for our police patients and the work that the PTC does on behalf of UK policing. There are always lessons to be learned from others, and indeed that is one of the aims in attending gatherings of this nature, but it was clear that the PTC is leading the way in our innovative work and treatment plans, and ability to grow and evolve, and we should be incredibly proud of our work and our charity.
*Patrick’s flights and accommodation were paid for by the Dubai Police
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