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He was later disarmed and escorted to Nyansiongo Subcounty Hospital for medical attention.
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Police said the officer seemed depressed by work and needs time to rest.
Image: FILE
There was panic at Matutu police station, Borabu, Nyamira when a police officer stepped out of his office and started to shoot in the air.
His colleagues first took cover when the constable of police started to shoot into the air using his officially issued AK47 rifle on Monday morning.
The officer was at the report office at the station with other colleagues when he suddenly started to lament about his memories of his late wife and child.
The colleagues said he stepped out and fired around ten rounds of ammunition as they took cover.
He was later disarmed and escorted to Nyansiongo Subcounty Hospital for medical attention.
Police said the officer seemed depressed by work and needs time to rest.
Police headquarters said the case is among many that are affecting the service.
And to address mental distress issues in the service, a directorate- Welfare Directorate has been created to spearhead the same.
Inspector General of Police Japhet Koome created the directorate.
The main triggers of stress in police identified range from financial management, tough work, financial issues, marriage wrangles, transfers, working far from friends and exposure to stress.
Former Inspector General of Police Hillary Mutyambai had last year said 2,000 police officers were mentally unfit to serve.
He said the findings were established after medical examinations were conducted on police officers.
“We have subjected all the officers to medical examination, and to our surprise, we got a big number. We isolated almost 2,000 police officers who are unfit to do their law enforcement work,” Mutyambai said.
The former police chief said a process to manage some of the mentally unstable officers had been initiated.
He highlighted the importance of having stable officers in the service, pointing out the high risk posed especially when the officers are in the custody of guns.
“The police service has now started the process of managing some of them. To remove someone from work because of medical grounds is not easy. The government has its processes,” he said.
“Our tool of work is the gun, and when one bullet is discharged, the implications are serious.”
A task force was established to combat the rising mental health cases among police officers.
The task force opened up channels of communication among the officers as part of ways of detecting any form of stress among them.
Police commanders were also directed to always be keen to detect any trigger that may lead to depression, stress or mental illness and act immediately.
The programme seeks to empower police officers at all levels to enhance their sensitivity to issues of stress and trauma they routinely encounter in their professional and personal lives.
Another research by the National Police Service found that mental health cases are almost trending towards 12 to 13 per cent of the total population of officers.
“It’s trending toward the global figures,” the commission said.
Over the years, a spike in deaths in the service has been linked to trauma. At least three suicide cases involving police officers are recorded every month.
They include deaths by gun.
As part of efforts to address the trend, police authorities have launched counselling services and the commission has established a unit and staffed it to attend to their demanding situation.
The counselling unit will, among other things, evaluate, design and lead an outreach programme that helps prevent mental health and substance abuse.
Further, it will assist clients and families affected by mental health, substance abuse and trauma with ways of overcoming the problem.
It also strives to create and hold safe spaces in police stations, offices, camps, colleges and communities.
The idea is to enhance peer-to-peer support to feel safe enough and dignified to share their stories and experiences of stress, anguish and trauma in a confidential and non-judgmental environment.
According to Kenyatta University research, the major factor contributing to suicide and murder among officers in Kenya is work-related trauma.
The study found that police are generally on the receiving end of all community problems.
They are expected to maintain law and order in very difficult situations, besides putting their lives at risk.
It further emphasised that police officers are often in touch with extremely painful issues in the community such as murder and rape.
In 2019, the police launched a new programme - Muamko Mpya (Healing the Uniform Initiative) – to give psychological support to officers.