- Increasing cases of deadly violence involving police must be stemmed
- Counselling and regular mental fitness tests required
Image: FILE
Cases of police officers committing suicide, killing their spouses or wananchi are on the rise. It is a crisis that should worry the nation.
The perpetrators come across as incapable of handling the pressures of their social and work lives and give an impression that depression is a force that must be confronted squarely to stem the tide.
Junior police officers, who are often behind the killings or the suicides, are battling many challenges. They are not well paid while the police houses they live in are cramped and broken down.
Data from the Independent Policing Oversight Authority shows it has received 1,324 complaints against police officers, out of which 1,051 involved allegations of deaths and serious injuries.
Inspector General Hillary Mutyambai is a career policeman. He understands the problem. He can provide a solution. He must come up with a counselling service for officers.
Only last week he told MPs, as a response to the gun violence crisis, that the entire force will be subject to an annual mental fitness test.
On their part, police officers should talk about their problems because a problem shared is a problem half solved.
Speaking out helps get the problem identified and cured. Silence serves as a cauldron of repressed anger.
Quote of the Day: “Even if the hopes you started out with are dashed, hope has to be maintained.”
Maurice Maeterlinck
The Irish poet and playwright (Nobel Prize in Literature 1995), died on August 30, 2013