DR. HENRY LOWE (LEFT) MAKES A POINT TO MINISTER OF TRANSPORT AND WORKS ROBERT PICKERSGILL AT THE OFFICIAL OPENING CEREMONY OF THE EDEN GARDENS WELLNESS AND LIFESTYLE EXPO 2005 AND AWARDS DINNER, HELD AT EDEN GARDENS, LADY MUSGRAVE ROAD ON THURSDAY APRIL 28, 2005. - WINSTON SILL / FREELANCE PHOTOGRAPHER
THE 'WELLNESS of Police Officers' will top the agenda at the Wellness and Lifestyle Promotion Week, March 27- April 1, at Eden Gardens, 39 Lady Musgrave Road.
Chairman of the Environmental Health Foundation, Dr. Henry Lowe, said that the seminar was to empower officers to manage stress and remain healthy while performing their demanding tasks.
Dr. Vivian Panton, chaplain to the police, said law enforcement was stressful anywhere one goes. "Factors that constitute police stress have a long range," he said. He added that the police are mostly unsafe and susceptible to stress because of their title, the physical conditions in which they work, the strain of transfers far away from home, critical incidents of shoot-outs, constant handling of dead bodies and the limited scope for promotions.
TENSIONS
The police chaplain said the "now customary" protests against alleged cases of police brutality, "such as Kraal and Braeton Seven", have generated tensions between the public and the police force for many years. However, in addition to initiatives like community friendly policing, Senior Superintendent of Police, Donald Pusey says activities like the wellness seminar are critical to the scheme of low-stress policing.
"Unlike senior officers who say a prayer and face criminal elements with boldness; fear is the major cause of stress for the inexperienced police," he said.
