myAIPMPolicing During COVID-19 Pandemic and its Impact on Mental Health
Dr. Apurva KumarPandya, Dr. Somen Saha | Journal of Mental Health Education
Introduction
"The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has put the world on a standstill. Governments are forced to take immediate measures to control such a pandemic which include lock- down, forced isolation of infected patients, quarantine affected people and social distance. Therefore, viral outbreaks are often paralleled with symptoms of fear, anxiety, and depression (Banerjee, 2020; Brooks et al 2020; Ho et al, 2020; Roy et al, 2020; Yao et al, 2020; Zhang et al,2020).
Police personnel have been a part of “essential workers” who are the first responders taking on active roles in the fields to prevent the infections and maintain law and order (van Dijk, & Crofts, 2017). The World Health Organization and other international agencies have recognized police personnel as first responders who are most vulnerable to mental health problems (Inter-Agency Standing Committee 2020; International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, 2020;WHO 2020). The State Police Force (SPF) is a state-level agency which is in charge of maintaining law &order. The primary role of SPF is to uphold and enforce laws, control and prevent crimes. The Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) refers to a group of seven security forces such as Central Reserve Police Force, Central Industrial Security Force, Border Security Force, Indo Tibetan Border Police, Assam Rifles, Sashastra Seema Bal, and National Security Guard under the authority of Ministry of Home Affairs in India. They protect the borders of the nation from external aggression and infiltration and aid the state governments in internal security, including insurgency, anti-nasalism and counter terrorism. The SPF has been the forefront of the COVID-19 pandemic in India. Personnel from CAPF (particularly Central Reserve Police Force & Border Security Force) were also engaged in the pandemic management, especially during lock-down phase. Police personnel had coordinated local shutdowns, enforced stay-at-home mandates and at present they are encouraging use of masks and social distancing in addition to their other usual responsibilities.
The study conducted in 2019 revealed that the police force is understaffed and overburdened.
The COVID-19 pandemic might have exerted tremendous stress and mental pressure on already strained police personnel. Public health and policing experts acknowledge COVID-19 pandemic as a significant stressor for police personnel which compounds the stress associated with their professional roles. They are not only vulnerable to infection but are also at high risk to develop mental health problems. However, their mental health and psychosocial support care remain neglected.
We have reviewed existing literature on COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on police personnel with an objective to map studies conducted on police personnel mental health in the context of COVID-19, identify policing practices, strategies and recommendations to protect police personnel from stress and risk of infection ofCOVID-19."
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Policing During COVID-19 Pandemic and its Impact on Mental Health, Dr. Apurva KumarPandya, Dr. Somen Saha, Journal of Mental Health Education, 2021