Former scenes of crimes officer slams Queensland Police Service for lack of support

A FORMER Queensland cop who had to take photos of victims of one of Queensland’s worst house fires says she received no counselling or support following the horrific incident.

Suzie Kellet retired as medically unfit from the Queensland Police Service in 2014. Picture: Tara Croser.

SUZIE Kellet used to repeatedly drive to a vacant block in Slacks Creek and sit outside in her car. The block was the scene of a tragic house fire where 11 people, including a two-year-old child, died in 2011.

Ms Kellet, then a senior constable in the Logan Scenes of Crime unit, had spent 24 hours photographing the bodies as each one was pulled from the rubble.

The 45-year-old still can’t shake the memory.

‘‘Towards the last six months on the job, I would just be driving out to the street and sitting there,” she said.

“The house had been demolished by then. To this day the smell of smoke takes me right back to that scene.”

Ms Kellet said she was never officially debriefed in the aftermath of the job.

“In my whole career, from 2001 to 2014, I only ever received a debriefing once early on, but definitely not on (the Slacks Creek) job,” she said.

Ms Kellet medically retired from the Queensland Police Service in 2014 after struggling for years with what she now knows was chronic post-traumatic stress disorder.

She couldn’t sleep for days, fought with her superiors, was physically sick, and her family relationships suffered.

Former police officer Suzi Kellet says there was no debriefing following the Slacks Creek house fire. File picture

“I had to realise that my job, the thing that I loved doing, was making me sick,” she said. “I was so angry all the time. You hear about the cliche ‘old bitter cop’ and I just thought I was becoming one of those. I had no idea what the signs of PTSD were. Neither did any of my colleagues or managers.

“Your brain is in permanent ‘fight or flight mode’ … you’re never able to come down, so I’d get called to just a normal (break-and-enter) job and be on constant high alert.’’

Ms Kellet said the QPS needed to provide regular training and education about symptoms and strategies for managing stress to prevent more medical retirements.

“The QPS is losing some of its most experienced cops because they’re burning out.

“When you sign up to be a cop, you know you’re going to see dead bodies and attend a lot of traumatic events. I knew I had the stomach for it. I was proud to do my job, but we’re not superhuman and there has to be more support.’’

Scenes of Crime officers are often called to traumatic events, including suicides and fatal road crashes. Ms Kellet said a common mantra in the force was “the job could be done by a trained monkey”.

“No one ever talks. There’s no conversation about mental health,” she said. “I was never advised to go see a psychiatrist. You see other cops coping with it, through either drinking, drugs, infidelity … everyone just internalises their stress.”

Ms Kellet said she was worried to share her health concerns because she didn’t want to jeopardise her career.

“If you go talk to a (human services officer), they’re obliged to report everything, so it’s not really an option,” she said.

When she finally had a breakdown at work and told her boss she couldn’t be an officer any more, she felt “judged” by her colleagues.

When she went before a WorkCover panel to have her retirement claim assessed, she was asked how PTSD affected her.

“I told the panel, ‘I feel like I’m a walking, soulless carcass’,” she said. “One of the members said, ‘Well, it’s only been a couple of years’. I was made to feel like nothing.”