And today we also asked the Minister of Home Affairs about this cop and, in general, alcohol abuse in the department. At the time he was not aware the cop had been charged, but said that if the allegations were true, then Arnold would no longer be a part of the police department. He added though that the department has had a psychologist for the past 8 months who has been assisting the officers.
Kareem Musa, Minister of Home Affairs
"We do have a psychologist, it's been something that I have been very adamant about ever since we took office in 2020, I believe it's been 8 months now that we do have a psychologist working with the police department and like you said, alcoholism is in all our security forces, not just limited to the police department and this is of course a very serious concern if it is that alcohol is involved and definitely you can rest assure that if it is that the officer is guilty of what they're alleging against him then we have to get rid of him in the department that's just been our policy and we have zero tolerance when it comes to that type of behavior but like you rightly said, attacking the root of the issue is also important, getting counseling for those individuals, I know that last year we had 17 police officers on suicide watch and that is a very high number, very alarming rate and certainly I feel very comforted in knowing that we have secured the services of a psychologist to assist these men and women."
Courtney Menzies:
"And in that 8 months have you seen much of a difference?"
Kareem Musa, Minister of Home Affairs
"Yes, we have, we are getting positive feedback of course, it is an issue but at the same time, we just have to keep at it with the psychologist and to get them the counseling and help that they need."
