I have read some suggestions that police officers who take their own lives while under investigation do so because they “cannot face up to their guilt”. That is an extraordinarily simplistic and dangerous assumption. It also betrays a profound lack of understanding of just how punitive, protracted and opaque the process of holding police officers to account has become. I have worked in Policing Professional Standards. I believe absolutely in holding police officers to the highest standards. But accountability without due process is not accountability. Research has examined the psychological impact of misconduct investigations on officers who were ultimately exonerated. That fact alone should give people pause before casually equating distress with guilt. An allegation can mean suspension, professional isolation, reputational damage, family and financial pressure, and months or even years of uncertainty. For a police officer, their profession is often a significant part of their identity. Being removed from it while an allegation hangs over them can have profound consequences. And being cleared does not simply put everything back together. Some officers will never return to the operational confidence, professional identity or psychological wellbeing they had before the investigation began. Exoneration cannot return the months or years taken from them. Many will never get promoted again no matter how competent they are. Police officers must be accountable for wrongdoing. Equally, the institutions investigating them must be accountable for how they investigate. Due process, timely investigations, transparency and procedural fairness are not protections from accountability. They are what makes accountability legitimate.