Any occupation is bound to have its own forms of stress. Police stress is the negative pressure police officers encounter in their everyday line of duty. Their daily exposure to crime, hostile public, pain they see in other people as well as pain they get to encounter, the disturbing images they see and get to handle directly when responding to tragic incidences, and the ever present alertness of danger are just among the many factors that takes a toll on them contributing to work-related stress among police officers (Toch, 2002).
Police stressors fall into four major categories with the first one being stress encountered in line of duty, this includes, exposure to danger and criminals, the responsibility charged to them of taking care of every other person, the needs to self-regulate even when provoked, exposure to other people's painful ordeals and suffering, change in the body rhythm due to changes in shifts, these shifts at times force them to compromise their family life, and social life. The second stressor is stress arising from internal police departments, such as set policies and rules. At times police officers have to go on patrol alone (Agolla, 2009). Though they never show it, this creates anxiety, fear and a sense of danger for their lives while on such patrols.
Delegate your assignment to our experts and they will do the rest.
Regular internal investigations which can at times get so intense and personalized while on duty and off duty interferes with their working schedule and creates suspicion amongst each other and individually. Lack of a proper reward system in the departments makes them feel unappreciated. Stress arising from society and the criminal justice system is the third stressor among police officers a good example is; appearances in court as witnesses or reporting officer, this interferes with their working schedule since each time there is a hearing they have to be there (Agolla, 2009). It equally affects their safety once these criminals are out of court.
Unavoidable confrontations at work with fellow colleagues are the fourth cause of stress among police officers, especially between the junior and senior officers. Senior officers at times tend to harass fresh recruits. Also when a police officer covers up crime and his/her colleague discovers this, this becomes a cause of conflict and misunderstanding between the two. Threats may be issued by either party triggering stress on the receiving party.Other factors contributing to stress among police officers are the lack of conclusion and follow-up on some of the cases brought forward by officers, which does get frustrating to the officer in charge of that particular cases as it renders his/her efforts unappreciated. In return, due to this disappointment, this creates a sense of reluctance and underperformance at work.
The quick pace at which their nature of work shifts can also be a source of stress. For instance, one moment an officer may be at the office desk then the next moment he/she is called on to respond to a terror attack in the city. Amidst that quick switch of the mental and emotional environment, the mind experiences unrest and tension triggering stress. The possession of a firearm and how to keep it when off duty especially around family can be stressing, especially the worry of children finding it and misusing it (Agolla, 2009). Officers have developed a dependency on their firearms and most have reported feeling unsafe when without their firearm.
Police among other first responders to any crime or incident scene face the stress of encountering first hand, horror, violence, grief and other mentally and emotionally disturbing experiences every other day of their working life. Worse still, different from other first respondents, police have to deal with the pressure of the next cause of action in when responding to these incidences (Gershon, Barocas, Canton, Li & Vlahov, 2009). They have to come into contact directly with the issue at hand take for instance an accident. Most of other respondents are usually onlookers and do not get to do much in that situation, but for the police, they have to come into contact with the victims, administer first aid to them, experience the pain of the victims first hand, carry dead bodies, and deal with grieving relatives and a rowdy crowd.
Unlike other first responders who only get to deal with one or two incidences in their lifetime, police officers have to respond to these incidents and accidents every other day of their working life. The unfortunate thing is that police get back to work immediately after dealing with these incidences without any form of counseling (Toch, 2002). These incidences reappearing in their mind since they never get someone to talk them out of it. This flashback slowly brooding stress that culminates into depression or post-traumatic disorder.
Some of the police culture adopted at work end up doing them more harm than good. For instance, police officers rarely talk about their everyday experiences with their families, friends, or even among themselves. Even when they talk about these experiences, they never get to tell the side of the story where they got affected emotionally or mentally. Their culture tends to make them feel powerful and strong enough to withstand anything. They forgetting that you can only have power over your mind and emotions for only too long.
However, as much as this does harm to them, it also saves other people especially their families and close friends the trouble of having to constantly worry about them or sympathize with what they have to go through every now and then (Senjo, 2011).Their personality and title as well tend to isolate them from society, people fear police officers thus it becomes hard for them to easily make friends or a have a social life that may help them cope with some of the encounters they go through. Thus most of them confined to their own officer's circle, act strongly together and resort to other means of unwinding such as alcoholism.
Due to this work-related stress, and lack of help out of it, many police officers result in substance abuse and especially alcohol abuse. Many officers have made it a tradition to have a beer or more at the end of every work session as a means of unwinding and relaxing and getting rid of the days encounters (Gershon et.al, 2009. The nature of police job exposes one to a lot of incidences every other day thus if one decide to opt for alcohol as his/her means of unwinding, this becomes an everyday habit which if not well controlled, could lead to addiction, underperformance at work, and further damaging the wellbeing of an individual.
To help solve the issue of work-related stress among officers, most officers are undergoing a job fit assessment before being posted to various departments. This aims at establishing whether they are best fit for particular departments since different officers have different mental, emotional as well as physical capabilities (Gershon et.al, 2009). Finding a post that suits every individual at the police force helps in reducing work-related stress and maximizing performance.
Resources and training facilities at police training institutions have been upgraded and the training intensified so as to prepare police officers fully for the tasks ahead of them (Senjo, 2011). This strategy aims at creating familiarity and continuity to the nature of work awaiting them, thus the transition from training to work becomes bearable, reducing the chances of stress. Most police organizations have resolved to allocate more funds within departments so as to allow room for more employees. This reduces the workload creating a more relaxed working environment, especially within the station.
In my agency, departmental officials have tried to maintain balance at work through establishing policies proven through research to have the ability to ease pressure at work, such as creating schedules flexible enough to suit the social needs of every officer, especially family needs and resting time. Guidance and counseling are being offered to officers after ever sessions of response to traumatic incidences to ensure officers recover from this incidences and can share such incidences with a professional who helps them slowly eliminate this event from their mind by speaking out, sharing their thoughts and opinions on such incidences freely without being judged.
References
Agolla, J. E. (2009). Occupational stress among police officers: the case of Botswana police service. Research Journal of Business Management, 2(1), 25-35.
Gershon, R. R., Barocas, B., Canton, A. N., Li, X., & Vlahov, D. (2009). Mental, physical, and behavioral outcomes associated with perceived work stress in police officers. Criminal justice and behavior,36(3), 275-289.
Senjo, S. R. (2011). Dangerous fatigue conditions: A study of police work and law enforcement administration. Police Practice & Research, 12(3), 235-252. doi:10.1080/15614263.2010.497659
Toch, H. (2002). Stress in policing. American Psychological Association.
