1 00:00:09,093 --> 00:00:11,972 Speaker 1: You're listening to a podcast from News Talk zed B. 2 00:00:12,373 --> 00:00:16,133 Speaker 1: Follow this and our Wide Ranger podcast now on iHeartRadio. 3 00:00:16,692 --> 00:00:19,573 Speaker 2: Alistair Rose. He's a former police officer and recipient of 4 00:00:19,613 --> 00:00:22,372 Speaker 2: the New Zealand Bravery Star. He's also the founder of 5 00:00:22,413 --> 00:00:25,012 Speaker 2: the Blue Hope Foundation and is gearing up for a 6 00:00:25,052 --> 00:00:28,613 Speaker 2: oney one hundred kilometer journey from Wellington to Cape Riang 7 00:00:28,693 --> 00:00:30,893 Speaker 2: and no one is the Hope right. The challenge is 8 00:00:30,893 --> 00:00:33,133 Speaker 2: about far more than just distance. It aims to highlight 9 00:00:33,173 --> 00:00:37,693 Speaker 2: the often unseen impact of PTSD and trauma within New 10 00:00:37,773 --> 00:00:41,172 Speaker 2: Zealand's police force. He was our New Zealander of the 11 00:00:41,213 --> 00:00:44,773 Speaker 2: Week and he joins us on the phone right now. Alistair, 12 00:00:45,213 --> 00:00:48,532 Speaker 2: A very very good afternoon to you. Thank you very 13 00:00:48,653 --> 00:00:52,213 Speaker 2: much for your time. Oh we've got you there. 14 00:00:52,253 --> 00:00:54,493 Speaker 3: How are you struggle to bring you up there for 15 00:00:54,533 --> 00:00:57,773 Speaker 3: a second? Sorry, Alistair, Hey, so welcome to the show 16 00:00:57,773 --> 00:01:00,253 Speaker 3: and tell us about Blue Hope and the mental toll 17 00:01:00,453 --> 00:01:01,493 Speaker 3: of police work. 18 00:01:02,973 --> 00:01:05,572 Speaker 4: So well, I've got his personal experience of the mental 19 00:01:05,613 --> 00:01:08,493 Speaker 4: toll of police work. So I've got the News and 20 00:01:08,533 --> 00:01:13,652 Speaker 4: Brewery Star. After a horrific shooting in two thousand and seven, 21 00:01:14,733 --> 00:01:19,093 Speaker 4: and after that shooting, I had a very slow decline 22 00:01:19,133 --> 00:01:21,572 Speaker 4: in my mental health which resulted in me leaving the 23 00:01:21,572 --> 00:01:24,613 Speaker 4: police and going managing to find my way through the 24 00:01:24,652 --> 00:01:34,733 Speaker 4: ACC system. And I had some idea about because I 25 00:01:34,813 --> 00:01:39,613 Speaker 4: understood that ACC law and the workplace law that I 26 00:01:39,652 --> 00:01:46,892 Speaker 4: was on the right track of sorting myself out under ACC. 27 00:01:47,493 --> 00:01:50,413 Speaker 4: And a lot of people slag off ACC in New Zealand, 28 00:01:50,413 --> 00:01:54,013 Speaker 4: and I'm not saying it's an easy organization to work with, 29 00:01:54,173 --> 00:01:57,933 Speaker 4: But what I am saying is that ACC helped me 30 00:01:57,973 --> 00:02:01,813 Speaker 4: an awful lot and it continues to help a lot 31 00:02:01,853 --> 00:02:04,733 Speaker 4: of the clients that we that we look after. So 32 00:02:05,653 --> 00:02:10,053 Speaker 4: PTSD is a workplace injury and it's recognized by ACC. 33 00:02:10,213 --> 00:02:17,053 Speaker 4: Two thousand and eight, ACC started recognizing PTSD and it's 34 00:02:17,293 --> 00:02:22,292 Speaker 4: it's a slow process, but a long term illness PTSD. 35 00:02:24,133 --> 00:02:25,733 Speaker 4: So I was lucky enough to go to find my 36 00:02:25,773 --> 00:02:27,773 Speaker 4: way through because I had some knowledge of the law 37 00:02:27,853 --> 00:02:31,893 Speaker 4: that was behind it, and not everyone has that ability. 38 00:02:31,933 --> 00:02:39,613 Speaker 4: And the guys that we look after now they're struggling, 39 00:02:39,653 --> 00:02:41,733 Speaker 4: They're really really struggling. They don't know how to do 40 00:02:42,933 --> 00:02:47,413 Speaker 4: how to approach ACC. In twenty three we had three 41 00:02:47,493 --> 00:02:52,413 Speaker 4: suicides in a month of serving police officers. And you 42 00:02:52,453 --> 00:02:56,613 Speaker 4: don't hear this talked about a lot in circles of 43 00:02:56,613 --> 00:02:59,933 Speaker 4: New Zealand. It's not well publicized. I started the charity 44 00:03:01,532 --> 00:03:04,533 Speaker 4: after our suicide and a close friend of mine in 45 00:03:04,573 --> 00:03:07,532 Speaker 4: twenty nineteen and over a few bear that is at 46 00:03:07,532 --> 00:03:12,293 Speaker 4: his funeral, we are sided start Blue Hope Foundation ourself 47 00:03:12,333 --> 00:03:18,613 Speaker 4: as a wether now retired cops. So after the twenty 48 00:03:18,653 --> 00:03:25,693 Speaker 4: twenty three lop and having having three cops in New 49 00:03:25,773 --> 00:03:31,253 Speaker 4: Zealand in a month suicide serving cops as well, we 50 00:03:31,413 --> 00:03:36,573 Speaker 4: changed our course. Originally we used to deal directly with 51 00:03:36,973 --> 00:03:40,573 Speaker 4: upper echelons at a government's level, using health and safety 52 00:03:40,653 --> 00:03:43,293 Speaker 4: law and that sort of thing. But we worked out 53 00:03:43,333 --> 00:03:48,413 Speaker 4: that actually our main customers are our police families and 54 00:03:48,653 --> 00:03:52,253 Speaker 4: the community. The ones are who are affected by us 55 00:03:52,293 --> 00:03:57,493 Speaker 4: not having enough police because I'm mentally injured, and so 56 00:03:57,613 --> 00:04:02,733 Speaker 4: we've changed our focus to police families. And we know 57 00:04:04,253 --> 00:04:12,133 Speaker 4: after the twenty twenty three incident incidents that police families 58 00:04:12,933 --> 00:04:17,813 Speaker 4: were looking to reach out and understand how they can 59 00:04:18,573 --> 00:04:20,693 Speaker 4: get help. They didn't know where to go. That when 60 00:04:20,693 --> 00:04:22,573 Speaker 4: we spoke to the families, they didn't know where to go. 61 00:04:22,893 --> 00:04:25,773 Speaker 4: I didn't know who to approach, didn't know what their 62 00:04:25,853 --> 00:04:30,453 Speaker 4: rights were with a workplace injury and so we've stepped 63 00:04:30,453 --> 00:04:33,453 Speaker 4: into that void now. And so the Hope Ride is 64 00:04:33,533 --> 00:04:39,053 Speaker 4: around writing through communities, small communities in New Zealand and 65 00:04:39,213 --> 00:04:44,133 Speaker 4: talking to talking to families of police officers. The thing 66 00:04:44,253 --> 00:04:48,093 Speaker 4: is in New Zealand, most people know a police officer. 67 00:04:48,493 --> 00:04:52,813 Speaker 4: They know a friend who's a police officer, the next 68 00:04:52,853 --> 00:04:55,333 Speaker 4: door neighbor, it might be a police officer talking to people. Today, 69 00:04:55,493 --> 00:04:59,133 Speaker 4: I'm at the Central District's Field Days and Fielding. We've 70 00:04:59,133 --> 00:05:01,213 Speaker 4: got a small stand here that was donated to us, 71 00:05:01,933 --> 00:05:03,813 Speaker 4: and so we've stopped in here with the Hope Ride 72 00:05:03,853 --> 00:05:09,173 Speaker 4: and we've been talking to the community here and everyone 73 00:05:09,213 --> 00:05:11,373 Speaker 4: i've speak of spoken st says I know a cop, 74 00:05:11,813 --> 00:05:14,133 Speaker 4: my brother's a cop, or my son's a cop, or 75 00:05:14,453 --> 00:05:18,973 Speaker 4: everyone in New Zealand knows a cop. And those are 76 00:05:19,013 --> 00:05:21,173 Speaker 4: the people that we're trying to reach. We want to 77 00:05:21,213 --> 00:05:24,133 Speaker 4: talk to them. We want to say, look, there's a problem, 78 00:05:24,773 --> 00:05:26,933 Speaker 4: but there's also a solution. We don't just want to 79 00:05:26,973 --> 00:05:28,893 Speaker 4: talk about the problem. We want to talk about the solution. 80 00:05:29,093 --> 00:05:32,293 Speaker 4: And we're so lucky in New Zealand that we have 81 00:05:32,413 --> 00:05:35,853 Speaker 4: acc If you were a cop or an emergency services 82 00:05:35,893 --> 00:05:41,093 Speaker 4: worker overseas and you developed PTSD, you'd be on your 83 00:05:41,093 --> 00:05:42,813 Speaker 4: own lawyer. 84 00:05:43,333 --> 00:05:46,973 Speaker 3: What is the solution alistair to to a cop that's 85 00:05:47,013 --> 00:05:48,573 Speaker 3: that's suffering from PTSD. 86 00:05:50,653 --> 00:05:53,653 Speaker 4: The solution is, and this is all from learned experience. 87 00:05:53,733 --> 00:05:56,373 Speaker 4: This is what I had to do. Was you get 88 00:05:56,373 --> 00:05:59,853 Speaker 4: into the ACC system and by and and the easiest 89 00:05:59,893 --> 00:06:01,133 Speaker 4: way to do that is to go and see your 90 00:06:01,173 --> 00:06:05,293 Speaker 4: GP and say, I think I've got PTSD. I heard 91 00:06:05,293 --> 00:06:07,693 Speaker 4: a guy on the radio talking about the symptoms of 92 00:06:07,813 --> 00:06:11,053 Speaker 4: PTSD was just like boozing too much, shouting at the kids, 93 00:06:11,573 --> 00:06:13,733 Speaker 4: not able to sleep, by for vigilance. There's a lot 94 00:06:13,773 --> 00:06:18,253 Speaker 4: of different symptoms, and you know, that's what happened to me. 95 00:06:18,293 --> 00:06:21,333 Speaker 4: I heard a guy on the radio talking. He was 96 00:06:21,373 --> 00:06:23,693 Speaker 4: a soldier that had just come back from Afghanistan, and 97 00:06:23,733 --> 00:06:28,133 Speaker 4: he was talking about his PTSD and how he dealt 98 00:06:28,133 --> 00:06:30,253 Speaker 4: with it and how he got into the ACC system. 99 00:06:30,373 --> 00:06:34,413 Speaker 4: So I did exactly what he said, and I went 100 00:06:34,453 --> 00:06:37,133 Speaker 4: to my GP and said, I heard a guy on 101 00:06:37,173 --> 00:06:41,693 Speaker 4: the radio talking about PTSD, and I think I've got 102 00:06:41,973 --> 00:06:44,693 Speaker 4: I think I've got PTSD. For my service and the police, 103 00:06:45,173 --> 00:06:47,933 Speaker 4: I'm not well. I know I'm not well. I had 104 00:06:47,933 --> 00:06:52,293 Speaker 4: to leave police because I wasn't well, and there's a 105 00:06:52,333 --> 00:06:58,773 Speaker 4: lot of a lot of trauma that's displayed in different ways. 106 00:06:58,813 --> 00:07:01,493 Speaker 4: I mean, I was behaving in a very unusual way. 107 00:07:01,733 --> 00:07:07,333 Speaker 4: My sense of humor was very, very dark, and I 108 00:07:07,373 --> 00:07:13,453 Speaker 4: was quick to anger, and people were distancing, distancing themselves 109 00:07:13,453 --> 00:07:16,213 Speaker 4: from me and the police because I was a risk 110 00:07:16,453 --> 00:07:18,453 Speaker 4: and I knew that I wasn't performing in the way 111 00:07:18,453 --> 00:07:21,093 Speaker 4: that I had had done previously, and that I was 112 00:07:21,973 --> 00:07:23,853 Speaker 4: I was no good to the organization anymore. 113 00:07:23,853 --> 00:07:26,653 Speaker 2: So I had to leave a hell of a thing 114 00:07:26,733 --> 00:07:29,093 Speaker 2: for you as a police officer and other police officers 115 00:07:29,133 --> 00:07:32,373 Speaker 2: to deal with. And you're doing fantastic work. We're coming 116 00:07:32,453 --> 00:07:34,333 Speaker 2: up to the news elist, but really want to have 117 00:07:34,333 --> 00:07:36,933 Speaker 2: a chat about the bike cride that you're doing. Give 118 00:07:37,013 --> 00:07:39,053 Speaker 2: us the details. Where are you right at the moment. 119 00:07:40,173 --> 00:07:43,253 Speaker 4: So I left Willington on Monday at nine am. We 120 00:07:43,293 --> 00:07:46,653 Speaker 4: had a wave off at Parliament. A lot of supporters 121 00:07:46,693 --> 00:07:52,613 Speaker 4: and families were there, which is our core audience. Went 122 00:07:52,693 --> 00:07:55,413 Speaker 4: up to Otaki, then across to Parmaster North and now 123 00:07:55,453 --> 00:07:58,253 Speaker 4: I'm in Fielding at the Field Days. I'm here for 124 00:07:58,333 --> 00:08:02,373 Speaker 4: three days. We've been given a stand and we're talking 125 00:08:02,373 --> 00:08:05,333 Speaker 4: to people here and it's been fantastic. We've had some donations, 126 00:08:05,533 --> 00:08:09,173 Speaker 4: but We've got the message out and then next I'm 127 00:08:09,253 --> 00:08:13,373 Speaker 4: heading upstate Highway one. I'll be stopping at smaller towns 128 00:08:13,813 --> 00:08:17,773 Speaker 4: cities all the way up State Iowan. So probably on Sunday, 129 00:08:17,773 --> 00:08:21,173 Speaker 4: I land in Martin and then then up to hunter 130 00:08:21,253 --> 00:08:26,293 Speaker 4: All and then up to Mangaweka and then tay Happy 131 00:08:26,813 --> 00:08:32,253 Speaker 4: to Rangie Taupo, just up the guts of the island, 132 00:08:33,173 --> 00:08:35,733 Speaker 4: stopping and yacking with people. I'm not trying to break 133 00:08:35,732 --> 00:08:40,693 Speaker 4: any land speed records because I'm a bit of a chatter. 134 00:08:40,813 --> 00:08:45,172 Speaker 4: I like to talk about the subject. We're a group 135 00:08:45,173 --> 00:08:47,253 Speaker 4: of you know, we're a group of ex cops who 136 00:08:47,413 --> 00:08:50,573 Speaker 4: are worried about our colleagues. Yeah. 137 00:08:50,612 --> 00:08:52,612 Speaker 3: Thanks so much, Alisa, And this text just came through 138 00:08:52,653 --> 00:08:56,333 Speaker 3: alistair from one PTSD suffering police family to another Kikaha. 139 00:08:56,453 --> 00:08:57,852 Speaker 3: Thank you so much for your work. 140 00:08:57,773 --> 00:09:00,053 Speaker 2: Yep, and if you want to support go to Blue 141 00:09:00,093 --> 00:09:02,933 Speaker 2: Hope dot co dot d. Alistair thank you very much 142 00:09:02,933 --> 00:09:05,613 Speaker 2: for doing amazing work and we'll catch up with you 143 00:09:06,053 --> 00:09:07,933 Speaker 2: maybe in a couple of weeks and see how you're going. 144 00:09:08,453 --> 00:09:11,053 Speaker 1: For more from News Talk set B listen live on 145 00:09:11,132 --> 00:09:14,093 Speaker 1: air or online and keep our shows with you wherever 146 00:09:14,173 --> 00:09:16,732 Speaker 1: you go with our podcasts on iHeartRadio.