The coronavirus pandemic has impacted the mental health of State police officers from São Paulo State, in Brazil. This adds to the daily stress of police patrol work and frequent exposure to the coronavirus.

Only in the last six days have at least three state police officers taken their own lives only in São Paulo.

Police Colonel (Ret.) Humberto Gouveia draws attention to the impact of the pandemic on the agents’ mental health. Psychologist and epidemiologist Frederico Eckschmidt explains that social isolation enhances cases of depression and suicide in society in general.

In Brazil, suicide kills more police officers than clashes during action against crime. It is important to say that Brazil has the highest numbers of homicides and violent crimes in with world (50 to 60,000/year). It is also the country where more police agents are killed by criminals (around 500/year) and it is also the country where more people are killed by the police forces (which includes organized crimes members, drug traffickers and also civilians). Brazil has 26 states and 1 Federal District (the capital of the country, Brasília). In some of the states where violence is endemic, police salaries are extremely low, and many live in “favelas”.

In 2018, 104 state police officers took their own lives, while 87 died in clashes on the streets, according to the Brazilian Public Security Forum (in the State of São Paulo).

In the State of São Paulo, a recent survey by the Police Ombudsman points out that cases of state police suicide increases every year, having 84% more incidents in 2018 if compared to 2017.

*Leonardo Martins

Sources: JovemPan