I

ndonesian Police Watch (IPW) revealed Sunday that more police personnel committed suicide this year, showing that they are easily getting depressed when facing problems, especially concerning love affairs.

'€œSince 2015, there were six cases of police committing suicide. Most of the cases were from the Jakarta Police,'€ said IPW coordinator Neta S. Pane.

The most recent case involved First Insp. Budi Riyono, the head of the Cipondoh Police'€™s traffic unit in Tangerang, who killed himself with a 38-calibre revolver at his girlfriend'€™s house on Saturday.

Budi, who had a wife, asked his girlfriend to marry him, but she refused and Budi decided to take his own life with his gun in front of her.

Previously in Maj. Brig. Wahyudi shot himself in the head, also at his girlfriend'€™s house in Kalideres, West Jakarta.

IPW noted that the number of suicide cases had doubled from last year.

'€œIn 2013, there were seven cases of police personnel committing suicide. Two of them were middle-ranking officers,'€ Neta said.

Although the majority of the cases involved small weapons like pistols, in several cases the personnel preferred to hang themselves with ropes at their houses.

Neta said that the reasons behind the suicides mostly had to do with illicit love affairs, or other reasons that had nothing to do with their duties as police officers.

In 2014, for instance, First Brig. Guntur from the criminal investigation division of the Sukabumi Police in West Java shot himself with a pistol in January after fighting with his girlfriend.

Another case also took place in 2014, when Chief Brig. Rizki Habibi from the Sabhara rapid response unit of the Riau Police also killed himself over love.

'€œThis is a very serious issue that should be addressed by the National Police. The cases of suicide are very personal and related to an officer'€™s psychology,'€ Neta said.

He urged the provincial police chiefs to be more open in listening to the problems that their personnel faced, so that more suicides could be avoided.

'€œAs a preventive solution, the police also need to be strict about using guns and hold a test to check the mentality of personnel when they are holding weapons,'€ Neta said, adding that the police should also be more selective when recruiting members.

'€œPeople who joined the police institution should be ready mentally, psychologically and morally, so that they would not easily get frustrated by a small problem,'€ he said.

National Police spokesperson Insp. Gen Anton Charliyan said that the police would take preventive solutions by urging the heads of the police to pay attention to their personnel to avoid future cases.

'€œWe will also intensify programs to strengthen the mentality of personnel,'€ he said.

He acknowledged that the duty of the police was very difficult because they also have personal problems.