The National Police Service (NPS) has raised concerns over the growing mental health challenges facing police officers serving in different parts of the country.
Speaking in an interview with Capital in the morning Monday, Police Spokesperson Resila Onyango noted that mental health issues disproportionately affect police officers as compared to the members of the public, due to the highly stressful nature of their work.
"Mental health is a concern in our society, and it's a real issue here in Kenya. Studies show that police officers tend to be more affected than the general public because of the stressful nature of police work," Onyango explained.
She highlighted that even officers in less physically demanding roles, such as those at reporting desks, are constantly exposed to traumatic situations.
"As police officers, we see a lot; even that police officer who is at the report office. don't assume they are not going through a lot," Resila said.
"They are hearing the stories, people coming to report very horrific incidences of crime that have happened to them, a child has been defiled, it's them to receive that information from morning to evening."
The police spokesperson emphasized that mental health is a priority for the police service.
She pointed out that together with the National Police Service Commission (NPSC), efforts are being made enhance mental health support to officers.
Currently, the NPS has counselors and psychologists on staff, but Onyango acknowledged that their numbers are insufficient to meet the growing needs of officers across the country.
She noted that the NPS is working to increase the number of counselors in bid to reach affected officers from across the country.
"Moving forward, we are working towards increasing their[psychologists] numbers so that they are decentralized, very close to the officers," Resila said.
Resila also pointed out that the medical cover provided to officers includes mental health services, urging officers to seek help when needed.
"We encourage officers and I do appeal to my colleagues the officers to seek help, we are not stones, we are human beings at the end of the day we also run to breaking down and that is a given," she said.
She highlighted the NPS's ongoing efforts to improve mental health support, pointing to a decrease in suicide cases among officers in recent years.
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However, she stressed that the goal is to prevent any loss of life due to work-related stress or unresolved mental health issues.
"It[Mental health] is an area we are very keen on as a service and we are working towards improving it and indeed you can see we've managed the last few years even cases of suicide they've gone a bit down and I still always say we don't want even to lose one life of an officer because of stress at work, or because of anything that they could have talked about," she said.
About The Author
Bruhan Makong reports on security, human rights, and global affairs. He is passionate about uncovering the truth, amplifying the voices often drowned in silence, and holding those in power to account.
