By Police1 Staff
An Australian singer and songwriter responsible for the song about military veterans, “I was only 19,” released a song to support law enforcement officers suffering from mental health issues.
John Schumann has written and recorded a song entitled “Graduation Day” to support the Police Federation of Australia’s mental health campaign that will go towards supporting serving and retired officers and their families in need.
“Police all around Australia now have their own song, ‘Graduation Day’. It will remind them that they’re not alone - and it will give the broader Australian community an empathetic insight into the lives of the men and women who hold the ‘thin blue line’,” said Mr Mark Carroll APM, President of the Police Federation of Australia (PFA).
Carroll says the job of keeping communities safe can carry psychological costs for officers and their families.
According to a recent Beyond Blue study of first responders, suicidal thoughts among officers are twice as common than the general population with police and other emergency service workers three times more likely to have some sort of suicide plan.
Schumann said “Graduation Day” took him almost a year to write.
“The song owes everything to all the police officers around Australia who trusted
me with their stories,” Schumann said. “The stories were very hard to listen to - but I got a real insight into what it means to go to work every day to keep the community safe – and then come home with a head full of barbed wire without knowing how to talk about it or what to do about it.”
Proceeds from the song are being directed to the National Police Foundation to assist officers and their families in need.