Supporting police leavers: Guidance for forces

This guide has been designed for forces, with the aim of ensuring that those leaving the police service are given the knowledge, support and recognition that they rightly deserve. The recommendations and guidance contained within this document are as a result of extensive research with retirees, personal experiences and interviews with vested organisations, such as NARPO, the Police Federation and Unison.

It is intended to help bolster the resources that forces currently have available to support leavers as they transition out of the service. These resources include the NPWS Leavers Guide (Dec 2023) and the NPWS “Identity” film (Dec 2024).

Policing is a difficult and complex profession and for some the prospect of life after the job, can seem very daunting. Providing a range of resources to support our leavers, assists with their planning and helps them to face the future with confidence.  It is in the public interest that those leaving policing, who want to continue to work, do so.

NPWS leavers survey

The NPWS leavers survey carried out by Wellworks in 2024 asked 163 leavers if their employing force provided support to them when leaving policing and 76.1% (124) of respondents said no.

48.5% (79) chose to seek support from other sources (such as employment coaches, CV writers etc etc) with 27.6% (45) not taking any support and navigating the change independently. 

34.2% (55) said they did not feel they had time to plan leaving the service, therefore, the conclusion being that not all forces are meeting their obligations under the Police Covenant.

Understanding this guide

Whilst the contents of the guide are aimed at Police officer and staff retirees, the Police Covenant does not make any distinction in terms of length of service of leavers and therefore support to all those transitioning from policing is expected and should be considered. 

As our knowledge and understanding of this area deepens, we will continue to update the guide, so it remains an up to date and valuable resource to share best practice across all forces. 

The wider OK Leavers programme is underpinned by independently conducted research and the engagement work built on crowdsourcing the real-life experience.

We hope that this guide will help forces in developing how they communicate with and support those leaving the police service. 

A good place to start in reviewing the journey of leavers in your force is to map out their experience. What do they receive from the force? and when do they receive it? What support is available? and at what points on the leaver journey? There are a number of benefits of doing this exercise;

• There may be things that you are currently doing which with a bit of tweaking could be so much better e.g. the tone and quality of any correspondence they receive. Do we thank them for their service? Making changes to template letters is a relatively inexpensive way of letting your leavers know that their service is greatly appreciated. Moving from purely process driven correspondence to something that is heartfelt by putting yourself in their shoes. 
• By reviewing their exit path you may find retention opportunities and/or be able to promote other vacancies in the force
• This guide includes a significant amount of good practice. You can use your mapping to identify where there are gaps (if any). Develop glide paths for your key leaver groups to ensure a good understanding of current experience – see below and also if there are any further opportunities for retention.

Here is an example of a glidepath written from the perspective of a retiring police officer – 2 years out from retirement. You can see there is a lot to consider from an individual leaver’s point of view. This is another useful tool against which you can compare your own force map to better understand the areas where more support could be provided.

Develop glide paths for your key leaver groups to ensure a good understanding 
of current experience – see below and also to see if there are any further 
opportunities for retention.

Retirement is a transition that has elements of retrospection and planning for tomorrow. Pre-retirement courses provide delegates with the right tools to plan for a happy and healthy future.

Whether you are delivering interventions internally or identifying/procuring a provider, spend time thinking about what you would like the courses to cover. Talk to recent retirees as to what they would have found/found most helpful. This is not a one size fits all with officer and staff needs potentially markedly different.

Historically some providers in this market have been from a financial services background. You need to be reassured of their credentials and be clear with delegates that the force is not recommending one financial advisor above any other.  Remind them that it is always good practice to get advice from more than one provider when making significant financial decisions.

Below are some of the things you may wish to consider including in any pre- retirement intervention:

• Methods, approaches and tools for preparing for successful career change
• Personal, emotional and wellbeing dimensions of career change/transition
• Finance
• Identifying, translating and presenting transferable skills
• Practical tools such as CVs, job applications, LinkedIn and more
• Employment market insights and opportunities to consider
• Models of employment, self-employment, small business and more
• Building a powerful network, online and offline
• Success stories of those that have gone before
• Ongoing support structures e.g NARPO, social media groups, Linkedin

NPWS have created a Leavers Guide which is available on the Oscar Kilo website and is a good starting point for those needing support as they transition out of the Service.

Allowing officers and staff the time to attend pre – retirement courses/modules is an investment. Reducing the uncertainty that can surround leaving the service, will ensure delegates can look to the future with confidence and fully commit to their time remaining in the job. It demonstrates the regard you hold them in and your appreciation for their service.

Ensure that any courses you do provide are thoroughly evaluated, to ensure they are delivering the service you expect.

The National Association of Retired Police Officers (NARPO) is a membership organisation founded in 1919 that represents the UK’s former police officers, staff, their partners and former partners, as well as those widowed both during or after service. With over 93,000 members across 105 branches, spanning all forces in England and Wales, NARPO provides an invaluable support network for those who have served, or are about to leave the police service.

How can NARPO assist forces?

• Pre-Retirement Courses

Forces should consider inviting NARPO to their pre-retirement courses.  NARPO representatives are available to deliver informative pre-retirement presentations tailored to the specific needs of police forces and their leavers. These sessions address critical areas such as understanding pensions, preparing for potential lifestyle adjustments, and exploring post-retirement career options. The presentations also emphasise the importance of maintaining physical and mental well-being during the transition. Additionally, attendees can gain a clear understanding of NARPO’s services, from advocacy and welfare support to socialising opportunities, ensuring they are aware of the full range of benefits that becoming a part of the association makes available to them. These sessions can be adapted to suit different formats, including  face to face  or virtual events.

• Digital Resources

Recognising the increasing reliance on digital tools, NARPO has developed a wide array of online resources to support police leavers. These include the 8-Point Leavers Checklist, a practical and comprehensive guide that outlines essential steps for planning a smooth transition, covering everything from updating contact details with pension providers to joining the Police Treatment Centres. NARPO’s website also features a range of articles, FAQs, and videos, including an introductory video explaining the organisation’s mission and how it supports members. These digital resources are particularly useful for those who may not be retiring via traditional routes, such as officers leaving mid-career or pursuing alternative career paths.

• Physical Resources

In addition to its digital formats, NARPO can provide police forces with a variety of physical materials to ensure leavers have easy access to vital information. These include promotional flyers and posters, which can be displayed in stations and training centres to raise awareness of NARPO’s services. Forces can also request booklets that provide more in depth guidance on NARPO’s aims, alongside copies of NARPO’s quarterly magazine. The magazine features articles on a wide range of topics, including member success stories, updates on pensions and entitlements, and advice on maintaining well-being in retirement.

It is important to involve the Federation and other staff associations in developing your retirement offering. In many forces they are actively involved in supporting the retirement process. Encourage those leaving the service to reach out to their local branch/reps to enquire if there are any retirement events, subscription offers etc.  As a reminder the Federation continue to represent officers into retirement only for matters that are police/duty related that occurred during their term of office.

When looking at the process of transitioning out of the service and the psychological impact this can generate, it is worth considering what can happen psychologically and how these effects may be mediated or enhanced.

There are a range of responses to leaving the service, and these are characterised by strong emotional expression:

• Some retirees will be excited and the thought of the freedom from the working environment and all it has the potential to offer, travel, more time with family and friends, having more time to spend on hobbies or just time to relax and the freedom to choose what they would want to do.
• Others may have more concern and be focused on financial independence or leaving a role they love and feel very connected to. For these people instead of feeling relaxed and free from concerns they will often feel under more pressure and worried about the future.

Whatever the response to leaving and/or retirement, the process of leaving work can have the impact of significantly changing things for the individual and those close to them. These changes can be for the better or be more negatively impactful on ones sense of self and the level of control they may feel they have. Retirement in particular is a major life change and from a psychological perspective can initiate a range of personal impacts such as stress, anxiety, and depression. It also can be a time of opportunity and development. As one of the major life changes, listed alongside other life changing events such as births, deaths, marriage, divorce and moving house, it can have a significant impact on psychological functioning. 

Role, task and social support

In relation to psychological robustness and the ability to contain strong emotionally charged situations, such as those experienced in the policing environment, three areas have been identified as important to generate and maintain psychological robustness and resilience. These are role, task and social support.

These three areas are available when in the working environment and form a central resource for those working in policing. One of the problems that exist for those leaving the policing environment is that some or all these three areas will often be lost. The role will end the tasks associated to the role will also end and if the support system is made up of work colleagues that will also be impacted by the lack of daily contact with colleagues once someone departs from the service.

Pre-retirement checks

Often this process is experienced and much more impactful once the individual has left the organisation. To reduce the impact of these losses it has been identified that some form of preventative engagement would be useful to address the issues and wider implications that are generated because of loss. Following discussions and review with a range of officers and staff, the proposal of a pre-check, prior to retiring from the police environment is seen as a positive option.

This ‘pre-check’ would take the form of a ‘Personal Occupational Health Review’. Carried out by OH and holding a focus on a psychological review. This would form part of a package of pre-retirement responses for all officers and staff. An addition to the pension review and other practical preparation measures already offered to those about to retire. Within the psychological aspect of the review, emphasis would be focused on the process of psychological adjustment and specifically on the elements that are central to a smooth and positive adjustment to the new circumstances. Some of these include: - resilience building, recognition of emotions, acceptance, setting new goals, enhancing control, strengthening social networks. adjusting identity, finding new purpose, and meaning. There is also the option of working through any unresolved issues that may have been experienced within the course of the working role(s).

A smooth transition

Having a structured and focused process to address potential difficulties with the adjustment process would be a huge addition to the current pre-retirement systems that exist in varying formats across the policing estate. The current gap in addressing officers and staff psychological needs when approaching a significant life changing event and helping with the challenges of moving through this in a safe and secure manner would seem to be a huge addition to the current provision.

The addition of a personal occupational health review for those approaching retirement is seen as a significant way to help and support officers and staff who are going through the retirement process. Doing this in a timely manner, (around 12 months prior to the planned retirement date), enables appropriate support to be identified and carried out. This enables the retiree to access support and enhance their ability to engage in a positive psychological adjustment to the next phase of their life and the opportunities it may hold.

Creating integrated psychological support as part of a package of support offered to those going through the ill health retirement process is seen as best practice. With the added psychological strain experienced due to illness, a sense of forced process and significantly depleted resources all create a unique set of circumstances that lend themselves to focused psychological support.

The aim is to support those approaching retirement, either from a planned or in the case of ill health retirement sometimes less planned position. Spending up to 30 years, and in some case more, working in the policing environment will bring with it times of reward and challenge. The goal is to support and help those retiring to move to the next phase of their lives in a smooth and supported manner. That there is a clear structure to the end of a career in policing as there was at the start of it. 

Going through an ill health retirement process whether for an officer or for police staff can be very difficult personally and take a toll on the individual concerned. Attitudes towards the employer can change as a result of the ill health retirement process, particularly when it has become lengthy and/or adversarial. 

However if ill health retirement is granted then the individual in question is retiring and as such should not be disadvantaged in terms of the support provided by the force.

How can forces support ill-health retirees?

Forces can support the ill health retired by signposting them to: 

• The “Leavers Guide” and “Identity” film produced by NPWS, available on the OK website 
• Federation and UNISON resources
• The NARPO website
• Ensuring they receive any recognition due e.g. Long service/Good conduct awards

Once a decision on retirement is made, those leaving on ill health retirement should be invited to a pre-retirement course, as there would still be a lot that is relevant to their circumstances and that could help them transition out of the service. If this is not possible due to very short timeframes, you should work with your retirement course provider, to find a way to make the information that is relevant to the individual, available to them.

Transition coaching could be offered for those where a group environment may not be appropriate where topics can be tailored to meet the needs of the individual. 

In addition to the practical support on offer, one of the biggest issues when facing significant life changing events like retirement is the sense and experience of a loss of control. This is polarised when the process of leaving a workplace is because of illness. The sense of loss of control is heightened and this can lead to specific problems with the process of psychological adjustment. Leading to more pronounced psychological distress. Often those who go through the process of ill health retirement are faced with a difficult and impactful series of assessments, medical appointments, and structured interviews when often at a reduced psychological and emotional resource level. It is important to engage with a process of support and review for those going through this process.

It is often the case that psychological support is not integrated into the ill health retirement process within the policing environment. The speed of the ill health process and the potential sense of unplanned nature of this retirement process can leave individuals struggling with all the issues of a heightened sense of loss.

The potential physical/psychological illness can also present a further sense of loss of control for the person. All these elements combined have the potential to significantly deplete the person’s ability to cope and will often result in an exit from the workplace characterised by loss and dissatisfaction.

Feedback from those who have gone through this process identified lack of time to process the transition and a heightened sense of loss of control. It should be a priority to create support mechanisms and integrated systems that has the effect of restoring a sense of control and aiding the positive psychological adjustment of the person going through the ill health retirement process.

Some leavers choose to do so quietly without any fuss, whilst others may arrange a celebration to mark their departure. 

Acknowledging their leaving in some way is important.  It is a milestone in their life journey and lets them know that you have noticed their departure, that they matter and that they are wished well for the future. The giving of gifts and service cards (similar to veterans’ cards) is a symbol of the regard that you hold them in.

In addition to departmental farewell plans, in some forces the Chief Constable, marks a departure by personally speaking with every retiree.  This could be over a lunch with others who are departing the organisation, or in some instances a one -to - one meeting. In the majority of cases, it means a lot to a leaver that a Chief or Senior Officer has taken the time to thank them as they leave the organisation. It may be the first time that they have had the opportunity to speak to their senior colleagues in a relaxed and open environment.