Kiraguri launches sports activities to aid police mental health in Nakuru
Mental health has been a subject of discussion in the Kenya police service, with cases of murder, suicide and violence committed by some members of the Police Service on the rise.
This has led to a conversation on how the general welfare of the police can be enhanced, including their working conditions and how to relieve stress brought by the occupation.
Nakuru County is among the areas that have been affected with the latest case of the ‘killer cop’ Caroline Kangogo still fresh in people's minds.
This among other cases has led the Nakuru County Commander Beatrice Kiraguri to come up with ways to improve on the mental health of police in the county, through sports.
Working together with sub-county commanders, they have organised football matches pitting police in different sub-counties in Nakuru, which will later culminate into police and civilian competition.
“We have 11 sub counties in Nakuru, together with the OCPDs in charge of these sub-counties we sat down and saw it noble to start sports activities targeting the police, starting with football,” Kiraguri said.
“The main aim of these activities is to motivate the police because it is them who help us commanders to execute our jobs, but when they go astray we punish them harshly sometimes. So, it’s good to motivate the police so we can get the best of them.”
She noted that community policing can be enhanced through sports which is why she has also planned football matches with civilians in their respective sub-counties.
According to Kiraguri, stress management has remained the most important aspect in the sporting activities for most members of the police service.
She added that this has also helped build the relationship between junior and senior police officers where by they interact as team mates, coaches and fans, irrespective of one's rank.
Nakuru County Criminal Investigations Officer (CCIO) Anthony Sunguti lauded Kiraguri for the move, which he said was long overdue.
Sunguti said his office will support the initiative.
“We as the DCI have joined our counterparts in the Kenya Police Service, we have produced players from our side to make one team in all sub-counties, it will enhance good behavior to our officers because if they were not playing they would probably be doing other wrong things,” he said.
Kiraguri said that some of the mental health issues she has dealt with among officers included issues to do with finances, relationships, alcoholism, stressful working conditions and transfers. BY THE STAR

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