By Glenroy Sinclair, Staff ReporterA POLICE sergeant blew out his brains with his service pistol Sunday evening after the police minibus he was driving hit another vehicle on the Kitson Town main road, west central St. Catherine, the police say.
The police identified him as Sgt. Noel Colquhoun of the Constant Spring Police Station, St. Andrew.
According to the police, a Toyota Hiace minibus driven by Sgt. Colquhoun, hit another vehicle about 6 o'clock, and Sgt. Colquhoun got out and shot himself in the head with his 9 mm service pistol. He died at the scene where the police took custody of the gun with 12 rounds and picked up an ejected cartridge casing.
Sgt. Colquhoun is reported to have been depressed and was said to have been experiencing domestic problems.
A police recruit who witnessed the tragedy is now undergoing special counselling from Dr. Vivian Panton, the Jamaica Constabulary's Chaplin.
"She (recruit) was immediately recommended for counselling by her superiors," Dr. Panton told The Gleaner yesterday.
The recruit is said to have been waiting on transportation in Kitson Town to her training depot, Echo Village, St. Andrew, when she witnessed the incident which traumatised her.
"He would have had to be in a serious state to respond in that way," Dr. Panton said of Sgt. Colquhoun's action.
According to him, there has been an increase in the number of police personnel seeking counselling at the Jamaica Constabulary's chaplincy unit. He said he was already over-booked with appointments for this week and had had to put off some for next week.
"I don't know what would have happened to the JCF if there was not a programme like this," Dr. Panton said.
He said the programme is filtered right down to the station level where there is a station pastor. In addition, there are peer counsellors who are trained to deal with stress-related problems in the police force.
The Force Chaplin said that most of the problems were work-related while some were domestic issues.
