Police Traumatic Events Checklist (PTEC)
Summary
This study developed the Police Traumatic Events Checklist (PTEC), the first UK specific measure capturing the most frequently occurring “worst” traumatic events experienced in police work. Using 1,531 trauma descriptions from the Policing: The Job & The Life survey, researchers coded 4,987 trauma references into ten core traumatic event types and five situational contexts. The result is a reliable, practical tool for assessing trauma exposure across policing roles.
Top finding: Children, sudden/unnatural deaths, and road traffic collisions account for nearly half of all “worst” trauma exposures.
Why is it important?
Police Care UK aims to improve wellbeing for officers and staff regularly exposed to traumatic events. The PTEC provides a structured, evidence-based way to understand the scale and nature of trauma in UK policing, supporting prevention, monitoring, early intervention, and trauma-informed support pathways.
Focus of research
- Identify the most frequently occurring worst traumatic events in UK policing
- Capture situational factors that intensify the impact of traumatic events
Background
- Over 90% of UK officers and staff experience traumatic events, and 1 in 5 meet criteria for PTSD or CPTSD.
- Existing trauma checklists were designed for civilians or non UK police forces and do not reflect UK operational realities.
- Earlier police focused lists often emphasise firearms, rare critical incidents, or generic descriptors lacking detail.
- No previous tool was built directly from officers’ own language describing their most troubling events.
- UK policing lacked a validated, standardised method to assess work-related trauma exposure.
How the research was conducted
- An online cross-sectional survey hosted for eight weeks between 15 October and 16 December 2018, following focus groups and two pilot studies.
- Targeted all serving police workforce across the UK: officers, staff, PCSOs, Special Constables, and operational support roles.
- Included 167 variables and 63 substantive questions covering demographics, job conditions, trauma exposure, wellbeing, and PTSD screening.
- Rigorous quality checks removed invalid or incomplete responses, resulting in a final dataset of 16,333 participants (approx. 7% of the UK police workforce).
- Ethical approval obtained from the University of Cambridge Humanities & Social Sciences Research Ethics Committee.
Partners and Funding
- University of Cambridge
- University College London
- Royal Holloway, University of London
- Dorset Police
Funding: The Policing: The Job & The Life survey was funded by Police Care UK
Timeline
- 2018: Data collected via TJTL survey
- 2019–2020: Coding, analysis and checklist development
- 2020: Publication of the Police Traumatic Events Checklist
- 2021 onward: Planned cognitive testing and potential digital tool development
Results
Ten traumatic event categories and five situational context categories capture over 75% of UK police trauma exposure.
Most common traumatic events:
- Children (17.8%)
- Sudden or unnatural death (11.7%)
- Road traffic collisions and rail incidents (11.6%)
Key situational contexts included:
- Gruesome scenes
- Organisational pressure
- Cumulative exposure
- Personal resonance
- Being first on scene
The checklist provides a structured framework for self-assessment, supervision, occupational health, and trauma risk management.
Additional resources linked to this research
- Police Traumatic Events Checklist (PTEC)
- PTEC Matrix (situational context × event type)
- TJTL survey findings
