The Commissioner of Police, Western Port Command, Mrs Hilda Ibifuro- Harrison has attributed the myriad of of psychological and emotional issues affecting Police officers to the traumatic circumstances which characterize their duties in defense and protection of lives and properties.
The Commissioner of Police, Mrs Hilda argued that Poliemen regularly dealt with armed robbers, kidnappers, militants and terrorists who are the most violent, impulsive and predatory members of the society, yet the same policemen are frequently the targets of complaints and criticism by members of the public.
She made this assertion at a recent sensitization workshop for officers of the Western Command in Lagos titled: “The Emotional Work Impact And The Effective Coping Strategies For Law Enforcement Professionals”. The workshop was organized to help address psychological and emotional issues affecting the health and behaviour of policemen, the image and performance of the force as well as the public perception of the force
“Policemen spend an above average amount of time around pain, suffering and sadness. The same Policemen are frequently the targets of complaints and criticism by members of the public. Putting all of these and many more together, it becomes very obvious that policemen experience and pass through a lot of stressful and traumatic challenges in the course of performing their duties”, she lamented.
Mrs. Daisy Brewster, the resource person for the training, stressed that Police officers do what their superiors do and not what the senior officers say. She applauded the Police boss for taking the initiative to train her officers, and assured that the training will distinguish officers of the Command from their counterparts in other parts of the country.
“My job is to help them develop an emotional balance because they are dealing in different environments, hence they have to see themselves as professionals and try to change those things that have made the society to give them a bad image, they can only achieve this by learning to control their own emotions and this means they have to know how to react to the various situations and circumstances, although we should not forget that they are human beings”, she stated.
Mrs. Daisy expressed concern that Police officers witness certain things that affects them emotionally. Moreover, she advised the officers to start appreciating their profession with much dignity in their jobs rather than lament over the things they do not have and the government will help them to provide what they needed.
By Kenneth Jukpor
