'Chronic stress': Sheriffs and court staff suffering burnout and fatigue

This is part four of a Glacier Media investigative series on the impacts of mental health on the court system. Part one examined mental health and accused people. In part two, B.C. Provincial Court Judge Melissa Gillespie explained how court proceedings are kept moving forward. And, part three examined the stresses on lawyers and judges.

The sheriffs What the BC Sheriff Service and sheriffs are grappling with is the detrimental effects of these shortages on their workloads and overall operations. “In a number of offices, sheriffs stated that the staffing shortages are so severe that they are unable to safely staff jails and courthouses and are scrambling for coverage, leading to delays in response times for emergency calls and critical situations,” the report said. “Sheriffs in offices with shortages also reported that they are required to work alone in potentially dangerous situations, dealing with potentially aggressive individuals, running escorts, and guarding prisoners.

Overall, sheriffs emphasized a need for urgent organizational change to address the issues of stress, burnout, and increased sick leave usage. The ministry noted staff members who report or seem to be experiencing mental health or wellness issues, or who are involved in incidents which may impact them, have access to or may be referred to counselling resources, peer-to-peer critical incident support team members, and a clinical psychologist.

Support staff Sheriffs and judges aside, the courts’ public face is the clerks who occupy the seats in front of judges in court. In addition to them are the registry staff.The union said those workers deal with a multitude of high-stress situations, including the emotional impact of the cases they handle. That vicarious trauma can come from family and other cases in addition to criminal cases.

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