The Chairman of the Police Service Commission (PSC), DIG Hashimu Argungu (rtd), has tasked all police officers to ensure having a thorough understanding and knowledge of the law, police orders and instructions,as well as develop the attributes of efficiency, courtesy, tact, integrity and impartiality.
DIG Argungu in gave the charge in a keynote address presented to the participants of an ongoing high-level workshop which began in Abuja on Monday, September 15, and organised for security personnel by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) development partners and governments of Bornu, Adamawa and Yobe states.
He noted that current threats to the future of policing and security in Nigeria are no longer primarily coming from the conventional (traditional) factors of the usual narrative – unemployment, poverty, and out-of-school children, among others.
The PSC chairman spoke on “Ethics, Mental Health and the Future of Policing and security in Nigeria” under the theme: “Command Leadership for Ethical and Trauma-Informed Security Response,” during which he noted the importance of studying ethics and professional code of ethics by police officers since, according to him, they are the bedrock of policing code of conduct.
DIG Argungu said ethics training would help police departments/institutions recognise their full potential since officers use a lot of discretion in the conduct of their duties which include the enforcement of the law at appropriate time or place.
The PSC Chairman also spoke on the implications of medical health requirements for enlistment into the Nigeria Police Force, adding that medical examination would help to evaluate “if the candidate is medically fit to meet the physical requirements of the job.”
He said deformities and abnormalities test must be carried out as part of the medical health requirements, adding that a candidate for admission must be free of impediment in speech, gross malfunction of teeth or jaw preventing proper mastication of food, knock knees, bent knees, flat feet and bent arms.
Others include deformed hands, defective eyesight or squint eyes and amputation of any kind, among others.
DIG Argungu explained that police stress stems from operational factors like trauma exposure and dangerous incidents, organisational issues such as poor management, shift work and lack of peer support and external societal pressures “which can lead to issues like burnout, depression and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).”
He noted the categories of stressors which he said include operational stressors which is inherent in the nature of police work including exposure to violence, traumatic events and the potential to danger.
He also mentioned organisational stressors that come with issues of insufficient staffing, poor leadership, excessive overtime, lack of proper equipment and strict or poorly enforced policies.
Others include personal/external stressors such as factors like financial difficulties, social and family pressures, societal influences as well as internal factors related to individual Officers’ emotional well being.
DIG Argungu said the consequence of police stress is that it can lead to various mental and physical health problems, including mental health disorder, burnout, substance misuse and suicide.
On the future of policing and security in Nigeria, the PSC Chairman said that the key challenges and threats that the country is facing now are social media and digital channel which can also be used for malicious content, as well as propaganda and hooligans employed by undesirable elements to recruit and mobilise followers.
The PSC Chairman noted that at this era of 21st Century, “all security officers will need to have training in the recognition of offences committed by the computer and how electronically-based technology affects businesses and everyday life.
