Several Police Officers Under Suicide Watch

Chester Williams

Earlier today, Commissioner of Police Chester Williams revealed that several officers are under suicide watch and that about twenty of them will be offered counselling. The information shared with reporters succeeds a recent suicide in Sarteneja Village. Meanwhile, Minister Musa said that incidents such as PC Chan’s unfortunate death and whatever might have led him to take his life are important factors that the ministry must take into account. So this year, Musa said that the welfare of officers is one that he must address.

Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police

“We did get a report from our psychologist that there were a number of officers were being watched. He continues to work with these officers to see what can be done, and just as a part of our discussion earlier with the psychologist, we have determined that we are going to add a mandatory counselling and, as well as a mandatory alcohol rehabilitation for some officers because there are a number of officers who are alcoholics and I think that if we just leave it for them to volunteer, rehabilitation is not going to happen and it is going to continue to plague us. So we’ll be looking at it from a legal standpoint. The Police Act will give the Commissioner the power to add mandatory counselling or rehabilitation for those officers. So we’re going to exercise the, the, the provisions in the Police Act to make sure that we do what we can to help those officers who are suffering from whatever they may be going through psychologically.”

Kareem Musa

Kareem Musa, Minister of Home Affairs

“The unfortunate incident with Mr. Chan this morning, P.C. Chan in Sarteneja, certainly brings to the fore something that I value immensely, and that is the welfare of our police officers. And so, strategizing forward, yes, we have to come up with strategies to fight crime, but we also have to come up with strategies to make sure that our officers are happy, to make sure that they are satisfied in the work that they’re doing, because at the end of the day, they are all human beings, and we oftentimes forget that they are human beings, and they suffer the same types of issues that we all do in terms of physical ailments, in terms of stress. It’s a very high stress job, and so that is going to be a particular focus for our ministry in the upcoming budget, is the welfare of our officers.”