Cumulative Trauma In Digital Forensics And Policing With Ben Dimmock

Ben Dimmock, Police Well-Being Lead at Bedfordshire Police, joins the Forensic Focus Podcast to talk about psychological safety, trauma exposure, and the long-term emotional toll of working in policing and digital forensics. Ben shares his own experience of depression 12 years into his service, the stigma that made him hide it, and how opening up eventually led him to build and lead one of the largest full-time police well-being teams in the country. He and host Paul explore why well-being has to be treated as an operational necessity rather than a "pink and fluffy" add-on, and how a culture of stoicism has historically driven burnout, long-term sickness, and unresolved trauma. The conversation digs into cumulative trauma — the gradual erosion that builds job after job until something small flicks the switch — and what genuinely psychologically safe leadership looks like versus performative box-ticking. Ben explains the day-to-day work of his team, from 80–100 welfare interventions a month and TRiM (Trauma Risk Management) assessments to peer support networks, and two services he believes are unique to Bedfordshire: dedicated welfare support for officers under investigation, and support for their families. Drawing on Paul's own background in online child abuse investigations and his current work as an NHS psychologist, the two discuss supervision, proactive check-ins, and why sometimes people just need to be listened to rather than "fixed." #PoliceWellbeing #PsychologicalSafety #MentalHealth #TraumaInformedLeadership #Policing #DigitalForensics 00:00 Introducing Ben Dimmock 02:22 Depression and Breaking Stigma 04:46 Speaking Out 06:48 Why Well-Being Is Operational 10:12 Stoicism and Burnout Costs 12:00 Defining Psychological Safety 15:19 Proactive Support Culture 16:44 Building a Well-Being Team 20:57 Cumulative Trauma and Check-Ins 22:09 Supervision and TRiM Tools 26:45 Quick Check Ins 28:02 Cumulative Trauma Explained 30:13 Investigations And Welfare 33:45 Real Versus Performative 36:40 Inside The Well-Being Team 39:34 Supporting Families Too 41:47 Don't Suffer Alone 42:59 Listening Versus Fixing 44:03 Closing Thoughts 👉 Visit Forensic Focus: https://www.forensicfocus.com 🎧 Video/Transcript: https://www.forensicfocus.com/podcast/cumulative-trauma-in-digital-forensics-and-policing-with-ben-dimmock/ 📝 Show Notes Bedfordshire Police – https://www.beds.police.uk/ Oscar Kilo / National Police Well-being Service – https://www.oscarkilo.org.uk/ TRiM (Trauma Risk Management) – https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5a79e5f4e5274a18ba50f9cf/0392-12attachment2of2.pdf Ben Dimmock on LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/ben-dimmock-6325b4316/ 👉 Follow Forensic Focus RSS | https://www.forensicfocus.com/feed YouTube | https://youtube.com/@ForensicFocus Podcast | https://forensicfocus.com/podcast LinkedIn Page | https://linkedin.com/company/forensicfocus LinkedIn Group | https://linkedin.com/groups/693917 X (Twitter) | https://x.com/ForensicFocus Facebook | https://facebook.com/forensicfocus Bluesky | https://bsky.app/profile/forensicfocus.bsky.social Instagram | https://instagram.com/forensicfocus TikTok | https://tiktok.com/@forensicfocus Mastodon | https://dfir.social/@forensicfocus