We are very concerned about the health and state of the police force.

This has repercussions, not only within the Ministry’s (MI) force, but also externally because it affects our police population, their families,’ he said during a dissertation organized by the civil organization Somos Uruguay (We are Uruguay).

The head of the MI mentioned the ‘high rate of suicides in the Police which doubles the general rate of the Uruguayan society, which is already high’.

He mentioned that ‘the availability of the weapon has a very important incidence in this, of course’, he admitted.

During 2024, 16 officers committed suicide, according to data from the Sindicato Único de Policías del Uruguay (Uruguayan Police Union).

The same source estimates that the suicide rate in the police force is 38.2 per 100,000 inhabitants, higher than that of the country’s population, 21 per 100,000 people.

For this reason, attacking mental health problems and the state of health of our police population is one of the main objectives to be addressed, he said.

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