Just two days after the Jamaica Police Federation complained that cops were depressed on the job and had limited access to mental help, the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) forged a crucial partnership with the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) to give police personnel fingertip access to have their stress, depression and mental health levels assessed.

Commissioner of Police Major General Antony Anderson last Friday accepted mental health tools for the JCF from PAHO and World Health Organization (WHO) Country Representative Ian Stein. The handover took place at the Office of the Commissioner of Police in St Andrew.

The tools include a barcode and hyperlink, which the police will use to access a form they will fill out from their smartphones or other digital devices. The form will assess the varying levels of mental health and post-traumatic stress disorders (PTSD). After filling out the form, each member will receive a score ranging from low to high. Members who return high scores will be referred for specific treatment and assistance to allow them to cope during the execution of their stressful jobs.

Other elements of the donation include audiovisual technology that will allow members of the JCF to access panel discussions which will educate and help them deal with non-communicable disorders and mental health issues. It will also have an element of imitating different situations of mental health disorders, types of injuries and rehabilitation and provide solutions which cops can apply.

According to Dr George Leveridge, who is the clinical director of the JCF medical services branch, the barcode will be promulgated through all of the police’s communication mechanism.

“We have an e-mail mechanism that we can send it through. We have a host of WhatsApp groups. We have got the buy-in from the representational bodies like the Jamaica Police Federation. They will actually help to promulgate it. We are going to have easy to reach posters in almost all policing facilities. What we intend to do for the members is allow them, in the comfort of their own space to fill out the form to find out their perceived levels of stress, whether they are at risk for depression (major or clinical depression) or whether they are at risk of PTSD.

“If they are at risk, they will have the option to seek help internally or otherwise. We also have an obligation. We can see from our side, persons who are out of range and if you don’t reach out to us we have an ethical obligation to reach out to you. It will now give us an aggregated picture of the prevalence of what is happening, where it is happening in the organisation, so we can design other types of intervention that could address these things in these persons,” Dr Leveridge told the Jamaica Observer.

Commissioner of Police Major General Antony Anderson highlighted that the donation will strengthen the already functioning stress assessment capacity of the JCF, which has one of the lowest levels of suicide among police organisations across the world. He said having such a programme of assessment within the JCF was important because of the high-stress environment that cops operate under in Jamaica.

“Clearly in a highly violent operational space, you know that any day you go out you can end up in a gunfight and end up seeing traumatic things, even if it is a road accident. Trauma becomes a part of a police officer’s life here in Jamaica. You have to recognise that. The police officer who goes out there to patrol and is dealing with high violence every day, we also require that officer to shift from that scene and show empathy for a case of domestic violence.

“We are bringing in technologies that can reach across the force and extend across the country. Tools like this helps the officers assess themselves wherever they are and allow us to know what is going on across the country. We need to be very clear about what the levels of non-communicable diseases are in the force and target the people that need which type intervention. That is in keeping with the PAHO and WHO philosophy.”

The commissioner made the point that while other citizens got the chance to enjoy Christmas, most members of the force were hard at work, without receiving opportunity to refresh themselves.

“Within the context of our community called the JCF we have to find way of managing without taking breaks. The public does not get a chance to appreciate why they may see a particular behaviour or response. We recognise that we always have to be on our A game. We as leaders have to provide psychological support and not just to them, but also their families. A police officer’s family carries a heavy burden.”