The crime statistics for this year have already surpassed the stats of last year during the same period. The cries from many quarters of the country have been for the protective services to respond appropriately to the worsening situation.

We always hear about the victims of the high crime rate. But meet the other people affected by the upsurge — the wives of police officers.

These are the women who live with the daily understanding that their husbands are putting their lives on line because of the pledge that they made when they decided to join the service.

“My husband has been an officer for the last ten years. But I still don’t sleep well at night,” Portia* said. “With this crime wave now and as the wife of a police officer, I guess it is always on my mind if he would come home in one piece,” the mother of three said.

“My biggest fear is that he gets gunned down while on duty. I mean I don’t like to think about it, but it is a reality all police wives have to face.

Portia said she is concerned that a police officer doesn’t even have to be on duty to lose his life to crime.

“Look at the officer who get gunned down the other day after going to cinema. Just so he meet his death, and he was off duty and not armed.”

Her husband’s erratic hours, she said, have also forced her to go it alone with the parenting of their three children.

“This puts a stress on us as a couple because when he comes home after a night on duty he expects that I allow him to sleep because he is tired.

“I am the one who has to clean the house, organise things , cook and get the kids ready to school and also drop them off on a daily basis. It’s not easy because I too have to be at work for a certain time.

“I sometimes feel like a single mother. But who would do it?”

For Simone* a young, pregnant newlywed, the danger of her spouse’s occupation wasn’t always a concern to her. In fact she had the romantic view that being the wife of a police officer meant that she was always safe.

“When I we were dating it was nice to know that in some ways he could protect me with his experience.

“Now I am scared because he could also be killed in the line of duty. “Everyday I feel like one of his cases will come back to haunt him .... He has dealt with drug dealers, gang members, corrupt police officers and they know his face... so revenge looks sweet in their eyes but dreadful in mine.”

Whenever her husband has night duty Simone usually opts to sleep at her mother’s house.

“I get comfort by going by my mom. I have trouble sleeping especially when I don’t hear from him by a certain hour.

“He usually calls every hour on the hour when he is working nights. If I don’t hear from him... it keeps me awake.”

Asked if she would prefer that her husband quit his job, Simone said no.

“I’m not selfish... I can see that he loves his job. It’s his passion to help people so I would not ask him to change his job.

“I think I have just reached the point of supporting him and hoping for the best.”

For Rachael* the difficult part of being the wife of a police is having to hear all the criticism hurled at police officers.

This despite the hard work and sacrifices that her husband and her family has to make.

“We don’t have much family time but we try to make the best of those that we get. I know that my husband is working very hard to protect the country but there are those who feel that it is never enough,” she said.

The thought of not having her husband around to see their children become adults often crosses her mind, she said.

“Whether he is out patrolling the streets or in the station you never know when tragedy can strike.

“My worst nightmare is to loose him and for my children not to have a father.

“Police officers are being threatened and in danger all the time even in their own homes, more and more you have to be careful and cannot take anything for granted.”

*not their real names