How Does Stress Affect Police Personnel?

Abstract

Police work is among the most stressful work in the world with mental, emotional and social stress (Suresh et al, 2013). This has led to higher cases of posttraumatic disorder in police personnel when compared to other professions like medicine and engineering (Marchland et al, 2013). Some of the major courses of stress in the law enforcement career include demands to working long hours, high workload, and lack of quality equipment.   According to Collins and Gibbs (2008), police officers also indicated the judicial inefficiency as a major contributor of stress affecting police officers.  To cope with the high level of stress in the profession, police turn to alcoholism (Willman, 2012). Drug abuse by the police officers is also directly associated with work related stress (Moore, & Kleiman, 1989). Some of the consequences of work related stress include police domestic and police suicide, which are recently on rise (Ammons, 2005).  Various work related programs have been adopted in reducing the effects of work related stress, various and have proven to be successful (Goldstein, 2006).

Introduction

Every occupation has different level of stress associated with it. However, the police work is among the most stressful occupation that results from physical, emotional, mental and social problems that are associated with the occupation (Suresh et al, 2013). In addition, the profession carries a lot of risk when compared to other professions like medicine, teaching, engineering and others because it involves violent and confrontational incidents. The problem is also made worse by poor living conditions, low income and excessive burnout as compared to other professions with lower risks leading to a high job dissatisfaction among the police officers (Marchland et al, 2013). Due the nature of their work, the police are also at a higher risk of posttraumatic stress disorders (PTSD) as when compared to the general population. This has led to a higher rate of medical use, substance abuse and strained family relationship among the police work force. The increase in the cases of stress related incidents in the police occupations has become a major source of concern creating the need for innovative ways of dealing with problem in the society. This paper discusses various causes of stress in law enforcement occupation, it effects like suicide, alcoholism drug abuse and domestic violence by police officers and possible solutions to the problems, which include various employee assistance programs that are applicable in reducing stress in the police personnel.

Stress in law enforcement

Several factors contribute high rate of stress among the law enforcement profession in the world.  These factors include the exposure to risk of violence, exposure to the traumatic events, Organizational issues that include the structure and the work environment in the police workforce. In additional, personal perception of the police officers is also a major contributor of the high levels of stress in the police force as it affects how the police officers view the nature of their work. Other causes of stress include the demand to work long hours, pressure to deliver results and high workload resulting to inadequate staffing and off duty recalls (Collins and Gibbs, 2003). The general population also perceives the law enforcement career as the most stressful occupation. This perception also affects the way the police officers view their profession and leading to higher job disaffection. Research indicates that the police officers consider the working round the clock the most stressful job event in the profession. Other factors include the lack of time to spend with family and attend to personal issues, pressure from outside the police department especially political pressure, lack of quality equipment in law enforcement operations and high loads of paperwork.  Research also indicates that ineffectiveness in judicial systems is also another source of stress to the law enforcement in the profession. They include case loopholes, which lead to acquittal of criminals or unfavorable verdict, arresting influential people, handling high number of cases and ill treatment of police officers in court (Collins and Gibbs, 2003).

Suicide by cops

Cops related suicides are higher at 18 deaths in 100,000 when compared to the general population, which is at 12 in 100000 in the United States (Aamodt, & Stalnaker, 2001). Such cases of suicide are also different in various ethnicities and the African American has a higher rate of committed suicide when compared to their whites. Similarly, the age is also a factor with younger officer suicide cases related to police officers likely to conduct suicide when compared to the older officers. The research also indicates that cases of police suicide are higher in males than in women (Aamodt, & Stalnaker, 2001). The rate of police suicide thus varies depending on gender, age and ethnicity. In addition to the cases of suicide by police officers, there are also incidents where such cases in the general population are influenced by the police operations. Such cases include the armed robberies where criminals consider no way out rather than suicide. Such incidences also contribute greatly to trauma and stress experienced by police officers in the course of the duty (Miller, 2006). The cases of suicide by cop are made worse by the fact that the police have no option rather to respond criminal’s shootings with fire. Suspects consider suicide as an option rather than arrest and possible jail consequences.

Alcoholism by police officers

Despite that police officers are expected to exercise a tight moral behavior then the general population, there is unusually high levels of alcoholism among the police officers. Statistics indicate that alcoholism in police officers is twice as high in comparison to the other professions (Parker, 2012). This vulnerability to alcoholism in the police workforce is attributed to the nature of the workforce where stress levels are also high in the law enforcement profession when compared to the other occupations. The police are also more involved in the effects of alcoholism everyday like responding to bar fights, domestic violence, misbehaviors and other incidences where alcohol is a major contributor. The stress related from these incidences leads to high level of stress that police officers face and they turn to alcoholism to control the stress. Repeated exposures to trauma, violence and other stressors have a great impact on high level on alcoholism among the law enforcers (Willman, 2012). The problem is made worse by the fact that alcohol is legal and widely accessible making it a primary source of coping with stress. Being a major problem in the police workforce, alcoholism has led to other work related issues like absenteeism, drunk driving and interpersonal problems with other police officers.

Drug abuse by police officers

It is an obligation of the law enforcers to prevent drug abuse among the public. the polices are tasked with the responsibilities of arresting drug dealers and  controlling the spread of the drugs in the populations(Moore, & Kleiman,1989) recently the cases of police officers abusing drugs are also in the rise among the police officers which is attributed to work related stress like trauma and exposure to  violence.  In addition to coping with stress, police officers use drug for pleasure and influence from peers. This significantly affects the personal conduct of police officers in their duty indiscipline cases. There are several incidences reported in the media where police officers are suspended in drug related cases. Drug abuse impairs decisions by police officers affecting their work responsibilities.

Police Domestic violence

Police play a crucial role in controlling domestic violence in the community. However, there are also a few incidences where they are directly implicated in domestic violence and violence. Although the cases of police officers involvement with domestic cases are rare, they serve as a demonstration as the nature of the police work especially exposure to violence acts could have an impact in their actions and behaviors. Police domestic violence cases are fueled by the fact that the police officers are provided with firearms and special training in using the arms and skills to defend themselves and the community (Ammons, 2005). The cases of murders resulting from the cases of police domestic violence continue to appear in the media. The police abusers have their better training, badges and guns giving them an advantage over civilian domestic abusers. Statistics indicate that domestic violence in police families is two times higher than civilian families. Some of the factors associated with the high rate of police domestic violence include problems arising from working long hours and shifts, sleep deprivation and job dissatisfaction as well as related stress. Furthermore, domestic violence involving police abusers are not as highly reported as civilian cases. This has caused police domestic cases to go unnoticed despite that the police are worse batters because of their special training and equipment (Ammons, 2005).

Employee assistance programs

Various employee assistance programs have been implemented to help the police cope with work related stress. These programs range from mental to welfare programs. For instance, The Boston police have an alcohol abuse program that is responsible to helping alcoholic addicts to overcome their addiction. The program also helps the police officers undergoing several difficulties related to drugs overcome their problems by finding useful and necessary solutions (Goldstein, 2006). Employee assistance programs are designed to help professionals requiring help and aiding in their efforts in overcoming such problems.  Employee assistance programs are either internal or external. Internal programs are based within and organization while external programs are based outside the organization. However, these programs have similar priorities centered in employees (Goldstein, 2006).  The programs are acting as support systems in helping employees cope on the consequences of work related stress in law enforcement. Research indicates that the employee assistance programs have a significant help for police officers especially in reducing work related stress. The major beneficial areas where these programs have greatly assisted include in managing post-traumatic stress disorders, police domestic violence and alcoholism (Donnelly, Valentine, & Oehme, 2015).

Conclusion

The police occupation is the most affected profession with high levels of work stress. The factors contributing to these high levels of stress include the exposure to trauma, violence poor working conditions and organizational structures. The stress related to law enforcement has a significant contribution to alcoholism and drug abuse as well as the high cases of police domestic violence. However, with proper employee assistance program, these cases are reduced and effects mitigated.

References

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Ammons, J. (2005). Batterers with Badges: Officer-Involved Domestic Violence. ABA Commission on Domestic Violence. Retrieved from http://www.americanbar.org/content/dam/aba/migrated/domviol/priorwinners/Ammons1.authcheckdam.pdf 

Donnelly, E., Valentine, C., & Oehme, K. (2015). Law enforcement officers and employee assistance programs. Policing: An International Journal of Police Strategies & Management, 38(2), 206-220.

Gibbs, C., & Collins, P. (2003). Stress in police officers: a study of the origins, prevalence and severity of stress-related symptoms within a county police force. Occupational Medicine 2, 1-9. Retrieved from http://occmed.oxfordjournals.org/content/53/4/256.full.pdf   

Goldstein, D. B. (2006). Employee assistance for law enforcement: A brief review. Journal of Police and Criminal Psychology, 21(1), 33-40.

 Marchland, A., Boyer, R., Nadeau, C., & Martin, M. (2013). Predictors of Posttraumatic Stress Disorders in Police Officers. IRSST. Retrieved from http://www.irsst.qc.ca/media/documents/PubIRSST/R-786.pdf

Miller, L. (2006). Suicide by cop: Causes, reactions, and practical intervention strategies. International journal of emergency mental health,8(3), 165.

Moore, M. H., & Kleiman, M. (1989). The police and drugs. US Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, National Institute of Justice.

Parker II, S. W. W. (2012). Dealing With Stress In Law Enforcement: Alcoholism, Divorce and Suicide.

Suresh, R. S., Anantharaman, R. N., Angusamy, A., & Ganesan, J. (2013). Sources of job stress in police work in a developing country. International Journal of Business and Management, 8(13), 102.

Willman, E. A. (2012). Alcohol use among law enforcement. The journal of law enforcement, 2(3).