Police officers quitting with stress over sex offence cases

Detectives are having to take more time off because of the stress of working on more and more sex offence cases, a police force has said.

Derbyshire Police's chief constable Mick Creedon said the force was struggling with the extra workload as officers and staff have had to leave.
Psychological disorders have become one of the main reasons for absence, a report said.
Figures show recorded sexual offences rose 16.8%, between April and August.
The force said it had a robust support mechanism in place, but it was under increasing pressure.
Mr Creedon said a "vortex" was being left after officers left. He said the rising volume of sexual offences they are dealing with was to blame.
"Seasoned detectives have broken down and had to leave. People are starting to really struggle with this," he said.
'Sheer volume' The report said that last year, staff cited psychological disorders as the most common reason for taking days off sick.
The number of sexual crimes reported has risen sharply over the last two years, other police figures showed.
Deputy chief constable Alan Goodwin said there was a "very robust support mechanism" in place to check on the emotional well being of officers and staff.
"The added pressure now is that the workload is increasing to the point where they might be otherwise be absolutely fine in terms of dealing with the work and getting that support," he said.
"But, it's now the sheer volume of what they're being asked to do [that is the problem]."