In 2022, 21 policemen took their own lives, higher than the 16 who committed suicide in 2021, as revealed by the data that Radio Sarandí news received from the Interior Ministry.

Most of the policemen who killed themselves are males under 50 years old, the source indicated.

The issue is on the agenda of the Union of Police Syndicates and the National Coordination of Police Unions, areas which bring together several of the 24 police organizations.

The Montevideo Police Officers Union (Sifpom) submitted to the President of the Republic, Luis Lacalle Pou, a bill for the prevention of suicide in the police force.

The “Sindicato Único de Policías del Uruguay” expressed to the newspaper La Diaria that ‘it is incredible the dehumanization and lack of empathy that certain superior personnel have with their subordinates so as to try to prevent these events’.

They also rejected the actions of the authorities in not recognizing the problem.

Suicide in the police force is a silent pandemic, Patricia Noy, vice-president of Sifpom said.

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