We know policing is hugely demanding. As officers and staff, we frequently experience things and are exposed to traumas that most people will never experience. Mindfulness training offers us tools to help deal with these pressures and with the reality of policing today.
MindFit Cop is one of our resources that you can sign up to improve your resilience and help you cope.
What is MindFit Cop?
MindFit Cop is our eight week online mindfulness course. Each week, you will work through the lesson, which will take around 30 minutes to complete.
You will then complete the home practice task, which will take between 10 and 20 minutes. Each lesson builds upon the previous one and, if you persevere, you will learn how you can make cognitive changes with lasting effects.
You’ll need an account to access MindFit Cop
If you are a serving officer or member of staff within a UK Police Force, our login area allows users with a .police.uk email address to instantly sign up and access any of our resources that are only available to those working in policing.
Use the button below to register, it’s quick and free to do. MindFit Cop, will appear in the 'My account' blue drop down menu when you next log-in.
If you are a serving member of a police force or other policing organisation and you don’t have a .police.uk email address - then please use the button below to contact us to request access.
We are here to help
If you have a query about our login area or your eligibility for access, please get in touch and we’ll do our best to help you.
Meet your tutors
Jenni McIntyre-Smith
Hi, I’m Jenni McIntyre-Smith. I’m a Detective Inspector with Bedfordshire Police, I’m also a mindfulness teacher.
I’ve been introducing mindfulness to Bedfordshire Police over the last two years and we’ve seen some great results. This has driven me to take this project further and create this online version of the course which I look forward to supporting you through.
My journey to mindfulness
I came back from maternity leave to promotion to Detective Inspector, with a brand new rank and unit. I found myself in charge of three high-risk units and had two large policing operations, I was also a new mum and was trying to do my best in all my roles: mum, partner, leader. I was trying to keep all the plates spinning and not let anything drop. I started to notice that my head always felt really full, I didn’t feel that I was anywhere, almost like I was floating.
When I was at work, my head was at home and when I was at home, my head was at work, I wasn’t giving anyone the attention that they deserved and I felt frustrated and unfocused.
I happened upon mindfulness. I didn’t know anything about it but someone suggested that it may be a good idea. I signed myself up for the course and arrived with no expectations. To be honest, in the first few weeks I really didn’t get it, but I persevered with the course. I didn’t actually notice the changes myself straight away, it was my colleagues who commented that I seemed different and my partner who noticed the biggest difference in me. After about week five or six I began to really feel the benefits. I suddenly realised that when I was at work, I was at work and when I was at home, I was at home. I noticed that my focus and productivity increased and I felt I was more able to respond to situations, rather than reach.
This led me to further explore the science behind Mindfulness and I found it fascinating. I could see that there are clear benefits for Policing.
Michael Chaskalson
Michael Chaskalson is the UK’s leading trainer of mindfulness-based approaches to work, with clients including London Business School, Prudential and GlaxoSmithKline.
He is an honorary lecturer at the Centre for Mindfulness Research and Practice, Bangor University, UK and has more than thirty years experience of Buddhist formal meditation.