POLICE: SAPS suicide crisis sees one officer die per week as mental health approaches emergency
Earlier this month, a 47-year-old Free State police officer drove to a family gathering in Hennenman in the early hours of a Sunday morning, searching for his girlfriend. When told she wasn’t there, he opened fire, killing three people and injuring two more. The officer then turned his service weapon on himself.
Less than a month earlier, an Eastern Cape constable forced his way into an apartment and shot and killed his former girlfriend, who was also an officer, another fellow officer, and himself. Three police officials died in a single incident: two victims and one perpetrator.
These incidents happened around Men’s Mental Health Month and spoke directly to the urgent need our law enforcement officers have for accessible, confidential, and stigma-free mental health support before personal crises become public tragedies.
Police mental health is declining as officer suicides rise
