Police officers are set to receive enhanced care to deal with mental health illnesses following the launch of a psychological support programme in Nairobi.
Inspector-General of Police Douglas Kanja says the officers targeted are those that are often traumatised by the series of crimes and shocking events they experience in the line of duty.
However, despite this reality, the police boss said that officers, expected to be constantly on guard and strong in delivering their mandate, avoid seeking help out of fear of being seen as weak or unprofessional.
Fear of stigmatisation by the public and colleagues, the negative perception of mental health illnesses by the public, fuelled by misconceptions surrounding the entire malady, are also factors preventing security agencies’ officers from openly talking about their struggles, IG Kanja said.
By avoiding to seek mental health support and treatment, cases of police officers committing suicide tend to be higher than the general public across the globe, the police boss said.
“Unfortunately, most law enforcement officers shy away from seeking mental health assistance which delays possible interventions in their situations. This, coupled with the prevalent challenges, mental health remains a pertinent issue in our country and of particular concern to the NPS,” he said.
Kenya has had a fair share of shocking accounts where police officers have been the perpetrators of the very crimes they ought to preclude.
In their research paper published in February 2024 at the American Journal of Psychology, Dr Lucas Mwaura, Prof Paul Kimamo and Dr Peter Kiragu noted that, police officers are exposed to a wide range of potentially psychologically traumatising events in the course of duty without adequate internal trauma informed support.
“This trauma potentiates them to develop Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder which is associated with many dysfunctional behaviors like assault, homicide and suicide,” they stated.
It is this murky situation that IG Kanja addressed, adding that several officers fall into depression which he said “affects all people regardless of age or social class, but is relatively higher among police officers who suffer from post-traumatic stress disorders”.
The police boss noted that while all people are vulnerable to some level of mental illness, the vulnerability of police officers is escalated by “unique factors”.
“The nature of police work as shown by research globally, is very demanding and stressful. Police officers are constantly handling traumatic and disturbing scenes of crime and accidents that often leave them with long term mental and psychological trauma,” he said.
Chaplaincy and counselling
To boost its efforts to properly handle mental health issues, Mr Kanja said the NPS had established the Directorate of Chaplaincy and Counselling to spearhead and coordinate professional counselling and psychological support to officers.
Other than enhancing the programmes for mental health support, the police boss said that plans to transform police stations into centres of excellence for service delivery for citizens are underway.
For the effective execution of this transformation, police officers will be taken through training to standardise their service and improve their professionalism.
“We need mentally stable officers to serve and protect members of the public and this collaboration in mental health well-being and training between NPS and AIU is crucial because it is aimed at improving our efficiency and effectiveness in service delivery,” he said.
IG Kanja also called for the need to create awareness on mental health and illness among the members of the public, and especially, police officers. Only through the creation of public awareness can individuals challenge misconceptions, stereotypes and negative perceptions surrounding mental health in order to “create an environment where individuals feel comfortable to seek help and support without fear of discrimination”, he said.
This development comes two months after the National Police Service Commission launched a comprehensive sensitisation programme in September to improve police welfare and mental health among officers in different parts of the country.
Primarily, the programme was established to offer counseling services, with the commission setting up a dedicated unit to address mental health issues and substance abuse among officers.
The unit was tasked with evaluating and designing outreach programmes that aim to prevent mental health crises and support officers in managing their emotional well-being.
