How we brought one officer back, so we don't lose any more.

It is a sad and unacceptable truth that police officers are significantly more likely to experience suicidal thoughts and behaviours than the general public or any other occupation. Over the last seven years, more than 20 Victoria Police officers have died by suicide - almost three every year. On a mission to prevent another officer taking their own life, Victoria Police briefed McCann to develop a strategic approach to this dire situation and produce their most important behaviour campaign to date. The aim, to break down the barriers that prevent officers from talking about mental health issues and normalising the process of asking for help.

To reach and positively impact an unresponsive audience, we needed to develop and deliver a message in a way they couldn't possibly ignore. It would require the bravery of a client to pursue an idea laden with risk, in the knowledge the reward would be truly powerful.

Senior Constable Laurie Fox took his own life on New Year's Eve, 2012.

Eight years later we brought him back, with Deep Fake Technoloy, to share a message they couldn’t possibly ignore. Although speaking to our core audience, the secondary aim was to spark state-wide discussion to further normalise the conversation of suicide ideation more broadly. Presented as an internal video, Laurie’s peer-to-peer message would encourage officers to identify and recognise the 8 signs of suicide ideation in their own behaviour and direct them to seek anonymous support from trained counsellors at the newly launched Bluespace website.

The process was highly complex. We interviewed current and ex Victoria Police officers and mental health experts, as well as reviewing existing programs that the organisation and Victorian Government had in place to ensure that we properly understood the issues. At every stage, we worked closely with Victoria Police’s mental health team, and Laurie’s family were consulted throughout the production process.

From beyond the grave, Laurie Fox was able to tell his story. The film saw Bluespace increase site traffic 350%. Average engagement time was 6 minutes, meaning officers weren’t just clicking through, but watching the video and engaging with support materials. The story was picked up by multiple media platforms including Channel 9, The Age and Sydney Morning Herald, national radio networks and received a social and media reach of over 52m, shared by the UK Metropolitan Police, NYPD and Canadian Police.

The brave approach to tackling the serious and sensitive subject matter was embraced locally and globally. A more standard mental health messaging approach would have been ignored by this group, as proven by all prior attempts. Our clients at Victoria Police recognised this, and were courageous enough to act on it, despite having critics along the way, and have since engaged the agency requesting a campaign evolution. We’d also like to acknowledge the bravery of Laurie's family who opened themselves up throughout the process, so the impact was as effectual and real as possible.

Victoria Police - Victoria Police - Senior Constable Laurie Fox

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