The Namibian Police Force (NamPol) has started training its own members as social workers in order to address mental health issues amongst its staff.

Currently, the force has only four social workers who provide professional social services in the force countrywide.

In an interview with Nampa recently, Inspector General of the Namibian Police Force, Lieutenant General Sebastian Ndeitunga said mental health is a priority in the force.

“Some of our police officers are frustrated, which leads to affecting their social well-being,” he said.

He said the frustrations of the officers in the force amongst other issues arecaused by some separating from their spouses because they were transferred far from their families, and because of low salaries, while some want to be promoted.

“All these issues bring frustrations among the members which lead to low productivity by not providing efficient and timely police services,” he said.

“We send our social workers to stations around the country to monitor the situation of mental health in the force and provide professional assistance to the members,” he stated.

Ndeitunga indicated that it is of utmost importance to have a healthy and stable force.

“We have to make sure that our members have stable minds, otherwise these are people who are in positions of lethal instruments such as guns. If a person has an unstable mind, they might get involved in a serious tragedy,” he said.

He then called police officers who are unable to cope with stress to seek professional assistance, noting that of late, the force has experienced reports of police officer taking their own lives or shooting at each other.

Source: The Namibian Press Agency