Counselling services resumed for Kerala police force

KOCHI: To eliminate emotional stress in the professional and personal lives of policemen, the Police Department has activated its counselling centre at Thiruvananthapuram SAP camp, Peroorkada, to address their concerns. Policemen across the state struggling due to stress, work pressure or personal problems can contact HATS (Help and Assistance to Tackle Stress). 

Hats was launched by the Kerala Police in 2019. It has resumed operations now and will provide free tele-counselling sessions. According to sources at the police department, if an officer needs more than tele-counselling, they can drop by the SAP camp counselling centre. The department will provide them with travel allowances for this. The direct counselling sessions will be provided by experienced counsellors and psychologists. 

“Though HATS was already functioning, it became the need of the hour as a few suicides were reported among policemen across the state. We came to know that many have been struggling with stress due to long duty hours and problems in their family. Sometimes, due to professional commitments, they fail to reach out to family or friends about their problems,” said a source.  “After we announced the call centre number, we have been flooded with calls,” adds the source.

If you are a cop and need help, call 9495363896