The situations officers face at times are extremely dangerous. It can range from responding to shootings to entering abandoned buildings to find a perpetrator who is armed and dangerous. For obvious reason this leads to officers stress. “Police officers are always ready to react. Their bodies’ response to these stressful situations is good in that it prepares them for any emergency, but the stress response takes its toll on officers’ physical and mental states (An Introduction to Policing 2005). Police work may be one of the most stressful jobs “The American Institute of Stress ranked police work among the top ten stress producing jobs in the United States (An Introduction to Policing 2005). ” Research has come up with four specific areas of stress in this field. The areas are external, organizational, personal, and operational.
External stress is are the real life threats that come from situations such as the shoot out and other situations outside of the officers control usually stemming from the criminals they face each day. Organizational stress comes from within the department itself “such as constant adjustment to changing tours of duty, odd working hours, working holidays, and the strict discipline imposed on officers (An Introduction to Policing 2005). ” Personal stress can be as simple as relationships with other officers in the department.
Operational stress is defined in the text as Stress produced by the daily need to confront the tragedies of urban life: the need to deal with derelicts, criminals, the mentally disturbed, and the drug addicted; the need to engage in dangerous activity to protect a public that appears to be unappreciative of the police; and the constant awareness of the possibility of being legally liable for actions performed while on duty (An Introduction to Policing 2005). ” All of these stresses can lead to serious affect on personal, professional and social life. As officers become hardened from the job they tend to bring the roughness home.
Police officers tend to have the highest divorce rate which even includes domestic violence. Health issues range from heart attacks, ulcers, weight issues and even suicide. Officers in their personal lives may become suspicious and detached. In this field many even turn to alcohol. The issues they face at home can in turn impact their career. An aggressive officer off duty hits their spouse the police are then called they could even lose their job. Other issues include the schedule of the officers it is hard to plan a personal life with the constant changing shifts. Imagine the impact one omeone who sees a person who has lost their life. When this changes the officers it trickles to their loved ones. Community expectations and demands also takes a toll as they are expected to help everyone and we hold higher standards for them. Another issue that effects home is the intrusion into family such as the gun in the house. What can officers do? First of all departments are now conducting stress levels test prior to employment. Departments have a psychological team available for them and should use them when they need to. It offers training research and management services to the officers that are confidential.
I think officers should also speak with their loved ones and vent frustrations. Many departments enforce health counseling and many times officers can get a peer counselor. “There are numerous training programs and support groups for police officers and their families. Many of them have a presence on the Web (An Introduction to Policing 2005). ” In closing the job of an officer is full of stress. It is important that they know what resources they have available to them and their families. Understanding this can help them in times of real struggle and frustration. It is also many times open to family members.
