Police union Popcru has called for more support for officers’ mental health after a VIP Protection Service officer shot himself at the funeral service of a Law Enforcement Advancement Plan member in Cape Town.
The 44-year-old police officer, a member of the VIP Protection Unit and one of Community Safety MEC Reagen Allans’ protectors, shot himself on Saturday outside the Uniting Reformed Church in Elsies River at the funeral of 23-year-old officer Alessandro Alveo Heynes.
Heynes was off duty when he was shot during a robbery.
Popcru spokesperson Richard Mamabolo claimed there have been “at least 20 reported cases [of suicide among police officers in] each of the past two years” – which he described as an “alarming level”.
He added that the suicides were driven by the constant threat to police officers’ lives, the “gruesome scenes they witness”, and the “persistent mental and emotional stress” they experience at work.
Mamabolo referenced studies that found police officers were more likely to commit suicide than the average South African citizen.
He said: “Our country consistently struggles with some of the highest rates of violent crime in the world, and pressing human tragedies compete for police attention.”
“This scale and scope of crime… is enough to put immense pressure on our 177 794 staff capacity that is expected to service a population of over 60 million,” said added.
Police spokesperson, Lieutenant-Colonel Robert Netshiunda, declined to respond to the statistics provided by Popcru.
“Within the service we have an employee health and wellness unit that caters for spiritual and psychological needs of members. The unit has social workers, psychologists and chaplains who work with members on a daily basis,” said Netshiunda.
In addition, many officers face limited promotion opportunities, shortages of resources and “inconsistencies in leadership”, Mamabolo added.
“Even though the SAPS has for this purpose introduced employee health and wellness programmes aimed at improving the mental wellbeing of members by providing psychological, emotional, and personal and work interventions, much evidence has demonstrated that the programmes have dismally failed to achieve their objectives,” he said.
Crime expert Guy Lamb added police officers generally held highly stressful positions, especially if they worked in crime-combatting roles.
Lamb said: “They are under pressure and stress and are constantly faced with trauma. This can impact their mental health.”
Officers working in VIP protection services were no exception, he added.
“In VIP protection services, members are always on alert. That level of constant vigilance can result in high levels of stress.
“This officer was assigned to protect an MEC in a province with high crime levels and could have been confronting the loss of friends and colleagues.”
Lamb said officers who experienced mental health challenges, such as PTSD or depression, were not always able to access the levels of support they needed.
“Members are not always encouraged to speak out, especially in the militaristic environment of the SAPS. They need support to be made accessible and de-stigmatised.
“Amid the macho culture of the SAPS, there is the sense that if an officer seeks assistance, it may impact their chance of advancement,” he added.
Mamabolo said the wellbeing of police officers was central to any functional police service.
“A police service that feels under threat can find its officers less willing to take on difficult, risky situations, and can also breed mistrust that breaks down essential community relations,” he added.
News24
