44% of traffic cops probably have mental illnesses
Today I told a doctor I could never do what she does, because doctors have to see sick, sad people all day. If I had to do that, I would go nuts.
I had “going nuts” in mind when I wrote, on Wednesday:
The truth, which most people don’t know or won’t admit, is that policing is very difficult work.
Policing is very difficult work. I grew up surrounded by cops.
A couple of times a month my mother would send me out to buy mee goreng. The gerai would be packed with cops on breaks. They and I would greet each other.
Almost all the ops would be smoking. Years later I would learn that the rate of smoking among law enforcement officers is higher than the rate among the general public.
Sometimes a money-lender would be there, collecting monthly interest on a sepuluh-dua loan. Many cops were heavily indebted.
My classmates and I didn’t consider policing as a career. We saw policing as unglamorous, poorly paid, difficult work.
What makes police work difficult? There’s a plethora of factors. I once had a brief experience of one factor: often having to see gory sights.
Once I went to the district police station to meet a police chief and complain about a speeding ticket which I felt had been issued unfairly to me. I was asked to wait about 30 minutes, until he ended a meeting. The waiting room was plastered with large colour photos of accident scenes.
I walked around, examining the photos. I saw twisted metal, broken bodies, blood stains. I saw the gory details, over-and-over again. After about ten minutes I left. I decided it would be better for my mental health to just pay what I considered an unjust fine.
In November last year the Malaysian Journal of Medicine and Health Sciences published a study of occupational risk factors which impact the mental health of traffic cops. The researcher, Irniza Rasdi, received 328 written responses to a questionnaire she sent to traffic cops.
Irniza used well-established global measures of mental health and occupational safety and health factors. Her findings are striking.
The data led her to classify 30% of traffic cops in sub-urban areas and 44% of traffic cops in urban areas as “having probable mental health illnesses.”
She found the five most stressful police-specific psycho-social work stressors were:
• Staff shortages
• Inadequate equipment
• Leaders who over-emphasize the negatives (e.g. supervisor evaluation, public complaints)
• Constant changes in policy/legislation and
• Lack of resources
Traffic cops who worked in urban areas scored the following 10 general factors as very high sources of stress:
• Working alone at night
• Overtime demands
• Risk of being injured on the job
• Work-related activities on days off (e.g. court and community events)
• Traumatic events (domestic violence, death, injury and witnessing tragic accidents)
• Fatigue
• Occupation-related health injuries (neck, back, joint pain)
• Negative comments from the public
• Feeling like you’re always on the job
• Friends/family feel the effects of the stigma associated with the job
Irniza’s goal was to compare urban traffic cops with sub-urban traffic cops. Hence, she did not include a comparative group such as clerks in small businesses or factory workers. Therefore, we do not have comparative data. All we can do is ask ourselves “is my work as stressful as that of traffic cops?”
The data is only for traffic cops. How about cops assigned to other work? They work long hours, deal with potentially violent people, are sworn to secrecy, in an organization which does not enjoy public confidence.
That’s not unique to Malaysia.
Delhi Crime is a Netflix series about the investigation of the brutal rape and murder of 23 year old Jyoti Singh on a bus in Delhi. A key investigator is a cop who’s trying to arrange a marriage for his daughter. Every time the family of a potential groom learns he’s a cop, they back away – because cops are considered corrupt leaches.
But that “undesirable” potential in-law is a good officer. He and his team worked long hours, ignored their families, endured many hardships. They found the rapists, got good evidence. The prosecution was successful.
Sadly, “good cop” stories are so often told because they’re so rare.
Policing is difficult, unappreciated work. Special controls such as strict adherence to fair procedures, much internal discipline and some external discipline must be in place if the work is to be done well.
In all our campaigns to name, shame and punish cops who lie, torture and murder, we must never forget that many cops strive to excel. Because of the stress they operate under, some mistakes can be forgiven.
That is why the English and Welsh police, in 2016/17, settled 25,000 allegations with just explanations or apologies. More on that later.
By Rama Ramanathan
The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of The Leaders Online.
