Nampol in shortage of social workers
The Namibian police has a shortage of social workers countrywide to provide counselling to its members in events of trauma experienced while on duty, due to a lack of funds.
This was revealed by the police chief, Lieutenant-General Sebastian Ndeitunga, in an interview with Nampa on Monday.
He said all police officers who attend to traumatic events can go for counselling if they feel the need and when social workers are available.
Ndeitunga explained that the police force would like to help every member that has been traumatised by what they have experienced on duty but the lack of resources remains a stumbling block.
“Yes, we to try to help those officers that are affected by such events, but due to the small number of social workers that we have, we only cater to cases that are urgent because the social workers we have are not enough for all the regions,” he expressed.
Some officers, he continued, would respond to accidents where several lives are lost, attend to a decomposed body or help doctors in conducting post mortems and it is something that can disturb their minds, which is why they need professional therapy.
“When you have an officer who attended to an accident where there are many fatalities or someone who hanged himself and the body is decomposed, you have to take the body where it is supposed to be and police officers become traumatised when they see these things,” Ndeitunga concluded.
He did not, however, provide the number of social workers required per region nor those that are available now.
NAMPA
This was revealed by the police chief, Lieutenant-General Sebastian Ndeitunga, in an interview with Nampa on Monday.
He said all police officers who attend to traumatic events can go for counselling if they feel the need and when social workers are available.
Ndeitunga explained that the police force would like to help every member that has been traumatised by what they have experienced on duty but the lack of resources remains a stumbling block.
“Yes, we to try to help those officers that are affected by such events, but due to the small number of social workers that we have, we only cater to cases that are urgent because the social workers we have are not enough for all the regions,” he expressed.
Some officers, he continued, would respond to accidents where several lives are lost, attend to a decomposed body or help doctors in conducting post mortems and it is something that can disturb their minds, which is why they need professional therapy.
“When you have an officer who attended to an accident where there are many fatalities or someone who hanged himself and the body is decomposed, you have to take the body where it is supposed to be and police officers become traumatised when they see these things,” Ndeitunga concluded.
He did not, however, provide the number of social workers required per region nor those that are available now.
NAMPA
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