Ramsay
Monique Hepburn, Staff Reporter
Nearly half of all police officers islandwide are reportedly struggling with clinical sleep pathologies and stress-related lifestyle diseases. This has resulted in mounting stress levels according to a recent study conducted by the Police Executive Research Forum.
At a Gleaner Editors' Forum on crime on Thursday, Corporal Raymond Wilson, chairman of the Jamaica Police Federation said that in light of the high levels of stress prevalent in the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF), the ability to deliver quality customer service would be compromised if the situation were not addressed quickly.
"It is quite clear to the
federation that an officer functioning under severe stress will not be able to deliver the level of quality customer service, which is the thrust of the JCF through its corporate strategy and emphasised in the Citizens' Charter," he said.
The federation chairman contended that the impact of excessively long working hours will not only affect the individual but also have serious consequences on the organisation and the society as a whole.
functioning under
additional stress
"Given the level of responsibility that is already placed on the police officers, it can be dangerous to have them functioning under additional stress."
The 2003 study, which was conducted in four medium-size metropolitan departments, predicts that nearly half of all policemen and women nationwide have clinical sleep pathologies, and as many as six per cent of the
officers on duty at any time may be as highly impaired by fatigue as if they were legally drunk.
