Address mental health challenges in the police service

The issue of mental health challenges among Kenyans has become quite critical in recent years. Many people are grappling with ill mental health, with some thinking of, or actually taking their own lives as a result. While mental illness is devastating for anybody, it should raise even more concern for the government when it is rampant among the police.

First, there is no gainsaying that people serving in the police service have easy access to weapons. When people get overwhelmed by life, many of them get suicidal. Police officers dealing with psychological challenges have a lot of risks associated with their daily interaction with and use of service-issued guns. If left untreated for long, it is easy for such a person to act on the thought of committing suicide. Unlike regular people, a police officer does not need to search too far to find a way to take their own life.