Kirwan police station opens resilience room to boost officer wellbeing
Kirwan Police Station, one of the city’s busiest, has opened a new resilience room designed to offer solace and respite for officers after confronting and challenging jobs. See what inspired it.
Townsville
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Kirwan Police Station, one of the city’s busiest, has opened a new resilience room designed to offer solace and respite for officers after confronting and challenging jobs.
This initiative was spearheaded by Senior Sergeant Matt Lyons, who stepped into the role of Officer in Charge last year and immediately sought to bring positive changes to support his team.
Securing funding last March, Snr Sgt Lyons established the resilience room to bolster the mental health and wellbeing of his officers in the bustling station.
The idea for the room emerged from a staff survey revealing that, despite a strong connection to their work, officers were experiencing burnout and neglecting their mental health.
“So the idea behind this room is to allow them a space within the station to come and retreat to for any period of time, minutes, hours,” Lyons explained.
“If they go to an incident that’s caused them some grief, they come and retreat to it, and spend some time just to recover, compose themselves so they can go about being the best they can be at work.”
Lyons emphasised the human side of policing, acknowledging that officers often deal with traumatic incidents and people in crisis.
One poignant example of the room’s impact came after a shocking shooting incident on Elphinstone Drive, Kirwan, on 12 March 2023.
During a 10-hour siege, a 50-year-old resident took his own life after firing multiple shots at police, forcing the area into lockdown.
An officer involved in the incident used the resilience room before his ethical standards interview, expressing gratitude for a space to connect with his partner and ensure she knew he was safe.
The resilience room features a library with a collection of books ranging from self-help to true crime investigations and defence memoirs.
Many of the books were personally purchased by Lyons, while others were donated.
Lyons noted that other police stations are now considering adopting the idea, inspired by the positive feedback from his team.
When the Kirwan station eventually relocates to its new home on Golf Links Drive, a resilience room will be included in the new facility.
The project received $2500 from the Queensland Police Service’s Our People Matter funding.
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Originally published as Kirwan police station opens resilience room to boost officer wellbeing
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