Tonight's Call the Cops episode revealed that the South West has the highest suicide rate in the whole of the UK.

The gripping episode of the Channel 4 series showed heartbreaking scenes of individuals struggling with their mental health - including officers who opened up about how traumatic incidents can affect them.

Viewers were left shocked and saddened by the scenes and statistics.

Tonight's programme saw a young man on the wrong side of the railings and a high-risk missing person search for a male who said he was going to hang himself.

Devon and Cornwall Police response officer, Amie, who has policed the Torbay area for around four years, spoke openly how she is more "terrified" of being tasked to an incident where someone has said they will take their own life, to an incident where somebody is holding a knife to her.

She said: "It's just that constant fear of what I will see and whether it will be the last thing that I'll be able to cope with".

Episode two also showed Amie reflect on an incident she was dispatched to in her first week, which involved a young doctor who took her own life.

Amie from Call the Cops

She said: "One of the first jobs I did as a police officer was a search for a high-risk missing person. We had to walk down to the shoreline after high-tide and see if we could locate her.

"It was quite distressing for the first week.

"I'm thinking that I might come across a dead young girl on the beach.

"She was a young doctor who had driven to a well-known beauty spot. She left a note in the car, she said she couldn't cope with the pressures of work anymore and then walked into the sea.

"It wasn't a happy ending and it has changed my perspective of the world and that's quite sad."

Call the Cops

Tonight's events touched the hearts of many viewers, praising officers for the incidents they deal with on a day-to-day basis.

La Dolce Lisa said: "I take my hat off to those police officers I could never do that job you have to be mentally and physically fit. They are all heroes and I for one respect all of them and thank them all. Take care out there. #callthecops "

Rachel said: "What a sad statistic, the south west has the UK’s highest suicide rate."

Amanda said: "'The South West has the highest suicide in England’, for some reason watching #callthecops and hats off to the police with some of the things they have to deal with."

There was a lot of praise for officers Amie and Gemma in tonight's episode.

Amie and Gemma

Sara said: "I'm so pleased they found that man and got him to hospital. Mental health services is another area that's severely underfunded. Those two female police officers are worth their weight in gold."

Alison Hernandez, Police and Crime Commisioner for Devon and Cornwall, said: "Very sad. And we have the highest level of firearms licences held by our community too. Plus more domestic visitors than London and second only to them for international."

The harrowing episode gave an insight into the realities the force faces and left people in awe of the job they do in tough conditions.



The force has over 800 jobs a day but only 80 response crews on call, which is a huge stretch on their resources.

What is Call the Cops?

Channel 4 landmark series featuring Devon and Cornwall Police, ‘Call the Cops' goes inside the nerve centre of policing – the police communications and control centre (colloquially known as force control) - to shed fresh light on the changing face of law and order in modern Britain.

This is rarely seen.


With violent and complex crimes on the rise across the UK, an increasing number of emergencies, and fewer resources to deal with them, this series will show the critical decisions made in control and on the ground in Devon and Cornwall, the largest geographical policing area in England.

‘Call the Cops’ has access to the force’s command and control teams as well as the frontline officers across Devon and Cornwall. But after years of cuts, this series will reveal just how hard it is for the police in 2019.

The series will cover a wide-range of jobs across the force area such as armed robberies, sexual assaults, missing people searches and domestic incidents. It also highlights the challenges our staff and officers have to face on a daily basis, including being on the receiving end of verbal and physical abuse.

Chief Constable Shaun Sawyer, said: “Call the Cops has been almost a year in the making and stemmed from my many discussions with frontline officers, and senior officers speaking to me and other members of the Executive in relation to the challenges they face every day.


“I hope you will join me in watching this and I trust that you will feel as moved as I am by the results.”

Join in the debate on social media by using the hashtags #CallTheCops and #ThisIsPolicing on twitter, and joining the live question and answer session that will take place on Devon and Cornwall Police’s Facebook page, and via @DC_Police during and after each episode.