‘One minute a top cop the next minute not’: Mick Willing reveals mental health struggles

During a life-altering call from Commissioner Karen Webb, Mick Willing was told his contract had been terminated after 31 years in the job. Two years later the former NSW Police deputy commissioner has a new purpose.

The man who was beaten by Karen Webb for the job of NSW Police Commissioner and then unceremoniously dumped from the force he served for 31 years is now working with damaged cops planning their exits.

As the NSW Police Force struggles to deal with drastic shortages that have this week sparked unprecedented industrial action in western Sydney, former Deputy Commissioner Mick Willing is working behind the scenes in his own way to help stop the exodus.

The Saturday Telegraph can reveal Willing — who was former Premier Gladys Berejiklian’s “preferred candidate” for commissioner — has been fighting his own demons since his very public sacking two-and-a-half years ago.

He’s come out the other side after seeking professional help for mental health issues associated with fear of the unknownand losing his identity and has found a new purpose as head of Fortem, a non-for-profit organisation devoted to helping first responders and their families.

Former deputy commissioner Mick Willing is now head of Fortem, a non-for-profit organisation focused on helping first responders. Picture: Tim Hunter

In an exclusive interview this week, Willing conceded he, like many cops, didn’t put his hand up for help during his career when he “probably should have”.

During his career he has seen 12 close colleagues take their own lives.

“A lot of the reason is the stigma of reaching out in the cops, seeking help, so I started to see how I could use my identityto demonstrate that it’s okay to throw your hand up and say you need help,” he said.

Willing, who was the longest serving boss of the homicide squad, the head of counter terrorism and one of the faces of the state’s Covid response in the middle of the crisis says one third of the people who come to Fortem for support to “transition out” have actually changed their mind and stay in the employment, feeling better supported.

Government agencies determined to keep everything “in-house” were missing out on vital help from organisations like Fortem which have a pivotal part to play in supplementing internal support programs by offering alternate, independent and culturall yrelevant support for people, he said.

NSW Police Deputy Commissioner Mick Willing at a Covid press conference in 2021.

Former NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian at a press conference in Sydney.

A Budget Estimates hearing in August revealed the NSW Police Force is 2279 officers short of its authorised strength.

The force has seen more than 1000 officers leaving the job in the past year while more than 4000 are currently not on the ground due to reasons such as long service leave, mental health leave, and paternity and maternity leave.

This week hundreds of police officers in Sydney’s south-west refused to perform some duties as staff shortages take a tollon the force.

Police from seven stations were referring non-critical jobs back to the relevant authorities.

Officers at Auburn, Bankstown, Burwood, Campbelltown, Camden, Cumberland and Fairfield stations declined to attend religious operations such as pro-Palestinian rallies, truancy checks for schools, parking disputes and animal complaints.

Former NSW Police Commissioner Mick Fuller (right) and then Acting Deputy Commissioner Michael Willing with Grand Mufti of Australia Ibrahim Abu Mohamad in Sydney in 2019. Picture: AAP

HOW IT PLAYED OUT

In a phone call that lasted less than a minute, Mick Willing’s world came crashing down.

He’d already had the rug pulled out from under him when he was passed over for the job of NSW Police Commissioner despite being the then Premier Gladys Berejiklian’s preferred candidate and picked by a top panel who recommended him for the role.

But now, in this call from his “new boss” who was yet to be sworn in to the top job, when told there was no place for him in the organisation to which he’d given his life, Willing was entering an unfamiliar territory of full blown despair.

In his first sit down interview since leaving the force two and a half years ago, Willing, one of the state’s most recognisable police officers, has given an insight into the circumstances of his departure and his mental health struggles.

And while he concedes former colleagues, politicians and mental health advocates often raise the prospect of him having another run at the top job when Commissioner Webb’s contract expires in another two and a half years, Willing said: “I get that all the time, you’re not the first one to ask. I’m happy doing what I am doing and hoping I make a difference. It feels good.”

He has learnt a lot since his exit and is now finding a purpose without his badge and blue uniform.

NSW Police Commissioner Karen Webb addresses the media about protests in Sydney.

Former Assistant Commissioner Mick Willing on his way to address media about a police shooting death in eastern Sydney.

During that life-altering call from Commissioner Karen Webb, Willing was taken by surprise when told his contract had been terminated effective immediately. Within 30 minutes he had no access to his emails.

“I went from doing 11am press conferences during covid, the most televised press conferences in the state or nation one minute, to being unemployed the next. Pretty crazy.”

He won’t go into details about that fateful day other than to concede the call during a trip to Foster with some mates for a getaway came as a “huge shock”— not just to him, “but everyone” around him.

While he accepted it, he hadn’t fully recovered from being told he was “preferred candidate” to suddenly being re-interviewed for the top job and then Premier Dominic Perrottet selecting Webb over him as NSW’s first female police commissioner.

“Leaving policing after more than 30 years, yeah my life was turned upside down”, Willing said.

“You know one of the most confronting things? I had to go and buy a wallet because I had a police badge with my cards for 30 years.

The NSW Police Force is struggling to deal with staff shortages. Picture: NCA Newswire

“I remember walking into David Jones and my head was spinning. Who am I? I was 49 years old and I thought, ‘wow, how do I have a new career now? I knew I had value, I knew I had a great, strong network and supporters across the board but that doesn’t necessarily convert into knocks on the door saying ‘hey come and work for us’.”

Willing was scared. “Very very scared”.

“Yeah because I didn’t have a pension, because I was post 88, I joined in 1990, I had teenage kids and I thought ‘well now what? I have given my entire life.”

Unlike too many cops he’s worked with over the years, Willing found the courage to ask for help.

The longest serving homicide squad boss, former head of Counter Terrorism and Special Tactics Command, former state recovery co-ordinator for the 2019/2020 Bushfire Disaster, and NSW Deputy State Emergency Operations Controller was now a regular man being honest about the panic attacks, the anxiety, the fear of the unknown, the loss of identity.

“Throughout my career running some of the most high profile commands in policing, homicide, counter terrorism, central met, and then as a deputy commissioner, I guess I was like a lot of police who didn’t seek professional help when at various points in my career I probably should have,” he said.

Former deputy commissioenr Mick Willing has found a new purpose away from his badge and blue uniform, working with damaged cops. Picture: Tom Parrish

“And looking back I didn’t have an appreciation of how much my career was affecting my family. So then when I left suddenly it was just a really traumatic experience and shocked everyone. It hurt everyone, my wife, my kids and this time I guess I knew I had to do something.”

Willing spoke to senior people in the NSW Government who had been supporting him and pushing him to “to talk to someone about what’s happened”.

“They were very supportive and that convinced me to reach out. So, via my wife who is a psychologist, I found a very good clinical psychologist and CEO transition coach to talk about the loss of identity, the challenges of transitioning.”

Willing also googled Fortem Australia, a leading non-for-profit organisation supporting first responders, national security staff and their families. He’d heard about the organisation because of the work it had done with the NSW Police HR department.

“I went onto a portal and said ‘this is my name, this is who I am, can you contact me’,” Willing explained.

“They rang and said shit we have never dealt with a deputy commissioner. And I remember saying ‘well use me as a case study. Because there will be more senior police and emergency services leaders who will transition into other careers’.”

Former Deputy Commissioner Mick Willing has a new purpose, helping cops contemplating a transition out of the force. Picture: Tim Hunter.

Next Willing started doing keynote speeches for Fortem about his career which led to him becoming an ambassador.

He secured a job as a Managing Director leading a national security and public safety practice at Accenture, a global consultant company, but as a Fortem ambassador in the background, he was gradually finding a sense of purpose.

“And being someone who through my police career had lost close colleagues to suicide, I started to think more and more about how important resilience is in our first responder community.”

While he might be an “ex-cop” now, he knows he still has the support and respect of many of his former colleagues who are closely monitoring his next moves - particularly at a time when the NSW Police Force is facing one of its most challenging periods in recent history.

Commissioner Webb has repeatedly come under fire this year, most recently for using taxpayer money to buy 100 bottles of gin from friend Michael Hope.

Then there are the staffing shortages, with hundreds of police officers in Sydney’s south-west this week refusing to perform some duties - referring a range of non-critical jobs back to the relevant authorities.

Two weeks ago the Sunday Telegraph revealed a mass exodus of cops rushing to make compensation claims before the government ends the days of lump sum payouts of hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Then Assistant Commissioner Mick Willing addressies media. Picture: Richard Dobson

Willing refuses to comment on the performance of his former running mate, but agrees it’s a “critical time” for the NSW Police Force and keeping frontline officers in the job by building their resilience has never been more important.

As the CEO of Fortem Australia he is proud to be steering an organisation that is making a “real difference”.

It’s an independent not-for-profit organisation that provides social connection, clinical support and other resilience building services alongside career management, to first responder organisations across the country, with a particular focus on volunteers, emergency services and the national security community.

“You see it all the time, when officers leave they often lose their identity … I’ve had officers that I’ve worked with over the years who go off and leave first responder agencies, and then at some point in the future they are just lost and end up taking their own life,” Willing said.

Mick Willing is thankful for the support he continues to receive from inside and outside the NSW Police Force. Picture: Tim Hunter

“That purpose and who you are is so tightly connected to the job you’ve been doing and there is just so much work to be done in this space.”

“At Fortem we talk to people who are looking to leave and do other things, people who have got all these skills and want to know how to convert them into being marketable out there in other sectors,” he said.

NSW Ambulance has already seen the benefit, contracting Fortem to provide its career management program and Willing is in Queensland this week to welcome on board Queensland Police. Fortem, celebrating its fifth anniversary this week, hopes other agencies around the country will follow the lead.

On a personal note, Willing is still taking each day as it comes, and now with some space and time is philosophical about his very public exit from the NSW Police Force.

“It caused some challenges for my family and I, but I am buoyed by all the support I continue to receive from inside and outside of the organisation, from the government, and for now I have found my new purpose in this role,” he said.

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Originally published as ‘One minute a top cop the next minute not’: Mick Willing reveals mental health struggles