Reports that a Kenyan police officer shot and killed his wife and went out on a shooting spree killing more people in Nairobi and shooting himself should quickly open up the conversation about mental health and interventions within the disciplined forces.
Mental health appears to be a concern among Kenyans. It is even shocking when an armed police officer is mentally unstable and armed. The latest story adds up to the many bizarre reports associated with police officers either killing their families or shooting innocent citizens.
Behind the uniforms and the badges are real and valuable human beings who deserve our support.
There is no doubt that police officers and their families encounter a lot of challenges as officers who risk their lives in the line of service to all. The nature of police work often springs up diverse challenges that can easily become a source of stress and abrupt behaviour change.
Unlike other government officers, police servicemen and women have access to guns as their tools of the trade and it becomes dangerous when an armed police officer goes on a shooting spree for whatever reason including incidences when they are psychologically disturbed. There has been a steady increase in cases where police officers kill their families, colleagues or even members of the public for no apparent reason.
This worrying trend has been on the rise in the recent past with reports of police officers killing even their families for no apparent reason.
What has been the significance of police reforms? There is no doubt that several police reforms have continued to be witnessed for the past decade especially with the passage of the constitution of Kenya 2010. Among the changes have resulted in an improved working environment of uninformed citizens and accord the police workforce a dignified work environment. Most reform agendas were geared towards giving security agents human faces by improving their working environment and integrating security personnel with the general members of the public.
There have been reports that a good number of uniformed officers may be grappling with stress management. Police officers just like other people in other professions encounter stressors. There is a perception that the presence or absence of occupational stress within the police service is dependent on the age, length of service, rank and category of the officers.
It is my considered view that there is an urgent need to strengthen training in stress and anger management as well as basic counselling skills and on top professional ethics. This will go a long way in equipping security personnel with key competencies to deal with emerging issues of stress. I will not be taken aback if the final findings point to the fact that the rogue police officer was psychologically disturbed. It is whispered in low tones that what senior police officers usually do whenever they establish that a given officer is stressed or disturbed is to simply transfer them to other workstations.
If this is true then this is a gap that must urgently be addressed to institutionalize sustainable approaches to dealing with stress management among the police force. Where police officers are suspected to behave abnormally they should not be granted access to guns and whenever possible they should be counselled. Security agents are key actors along the chain of the justice system. This requires that their level of productivity should be optimized at any given time.
Policy drivers should evaluate existing policy guidelines within police forces relating to how to deal with traumatized employees. There is a need to strengthen existing internal structures dealing with stress management among uniformed officers. This will go a long way in preventing or reducing the occurrence of bizarre cases that end up with the loss of lives.
Questions have even emerged on whether police officers have compressive cover for psychiatric cases. Finally, there is a need to review the police and military training curriculum because of strengthening skills in Psychological counselling.
There is also a need to carry out a national assessment of occupational stress and strengthen internal structures to act as a fallback for affected police officers to avoid or slow down the growing challenge that has led to repeated loss of lives.
Eric Nakhurenya is a public policy and legal analyst
