Jobs That Stress Never Ends

Have you ever wondered what’s it 's like to be a cop? Or what cop’s families go through on a day to day basis? This book Emotional Survival for Law Enforcement written by Kevin M. Gilmartin, Ph.D. gives us an outline on the difficulty and stress that law enforcement officer and their families face on daily basis. Dr. Gilmartin discusses the stages of hypervigilance. And the long-term effects of hypervigilance and the toll it takes on the officer and his or her family.

Police Stress As crime coexists with humanity, the presence of the police force ensures the suppression of crime and the safety for our society. Every occupation has its own work stress. What is unique is all the different stress found in one job. Aside from the heroic services police officers perform in their duty, they experience overwhelming stress in their daily duty. Police stress refers to the negative pressures related to police work (Police Stress, n.d.). In order to maintain peace and order, there must be an effective police force up and running. For that to happen, departments need to be aware and deal with the negative effects caused by police stress. Whereas, police officers must conquer their stress in order to work at their

Both harmful and helpful to Police Culture Officers, stress plays an important role in the effectiveness of a police officer both on and off duty. Police officers face several types of stress while on the job. The most common stressors come from internal and external factors. Eustress is a common type of stress that is normal and good, even considering the nature of the job of police officers. Distress is behavior outside of the normal range and is harmful to police over a long period of time. Within the department, internal stress factors include officers facing long hours, constant shift changes, issues of pay, lack of promotions, and excessive paperwork. Some external stressors include overly critical media coverage of police activities and investigations, lack of community support, overly lenient courts, and an ineffective criminal justice system.

In addition, police officer exposed to high levels of stress relate to their job have been at an increased risk for adverse health problems, including depression, anxiety, and posttraumatic stress disorder, (Grant & Terry, 2012).

Stress can cause officers to develop depression, and it can cause them to have problems at home and work. As a result, officers are two times more likely to commit suicide than civilians are (Grant & Terry, 2008). With that being said, there needs to be more avenues for help out there for officers to be more successful in managing their stress. Help could come in the form of better training for new recruits regarding stress and better counseling services for current police officers. Stress will continue to be an issue within law enforcement, and it will only get worse in the future of policing. That is why it is important to develop measures now to help officers manage their stress levels instead of waiting. It is a known problem now, so why not develop a plan to combat it?

PERHAPS IT WEIGHS only 2 ounces overall. Large ones may run to 4 ounces. But when that badge is pinned on, there is a weight unknown to most law enforcement officers. The true weight of the badge is not overcome by muscle, not found in the gym, not measured on

The list includes but is not limited to depression, social isolation, and chronic anger (Gilmartin, 2002). We as officers and egos often deny this and try to rationalize our behavior all the while this career is taking a toll on us. This toll takes the form of physical health issues, to our personal relationships with our spouses, significant others, and most importantly our children. The good news is that “Many police officers, in fact survive emotionally and remain functional, healthy individuals” (Gilmartin, 2002).

Police brutality is wrong and it shouldn't have to happen but it does. It happens more to Blacks. In the article "Racism and Police Brutality in America," by Cassandra Chaney, she writes about how police officers are perceived as well as police brutality. She incorporates statistics on police from the

Being a police officer is not an easy job. Officers are expected to make split-second decisions on issues involving life and death. They are subjected to danger and extreme stress on the job. It is not surprising that some of them explode into a frenzy of brutality and because police officers are under extreme stress and are forced to make instant decisions, they sometimes make mistakes and people are killed or seriously injured. Sometimes police are killed because they did not react quickly enough.

1.) Memphis police have arrested a man with a long criminal history in the shooting death of an officer Sunday afternoon, but had not yet charged him with murder. Lorenzo Clark, 36, has been charged with being a convicted felon in possession of a handgun in connection with the shooting

Even though policing doesn’t make the top 10 most dangerous American job, that does not mean police officers have it easy. Police officers face many dangers in their jobs police officers never truly know the outcomes of nay situation they go into. Dangers that policemen face is the risk of getting shot/death, stress, biohazard exposure, dangers in making arrests and serious/minor trauma. All of these dangers occur is different situations. Such as arrest, vehicle stops, hazmat scenes, and even directing traffic.

According to Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary (2013), stress in general is a physical, chemical, or emotional factor that causes bodily or mental tension and may be a factor in disease causation (Full definition of stress, 1c.). Job stress may involve the type of work your do, your boss, or co-workers or your hours you work. When it comes to job stress, it can take a toll on your productivity, as well as your physical and emotional health.

Law enforcement organizations are among the top five stressful occupations worldwide. Stress is hard to define because of the different aspects of stress. The term "stress" has been used to make reference to the stimulus that causes the stress response, the stress response itself, the stimulus-response interaction, or even the whole spectrum of interacting factors (stimulus, cognitive appraisal, perception, and coping style) related to the stimulus and response (Anderson, G. S., Litzenberger, R., & Plecas, D. (2002)). Think of it this way, a police officer responds to a robbery and it involves two armed suspects. The officer turns on the lights and his or her mouth starts to dry, and heart begins to race. Before the officer gets out of the car they feel the pressure and demands that are on their shoulders. Individuals identify this as a physiological response to stress.

Stress is a term used by many, is somewhat misunderstood, and often used to describe a negative condition or emotional state. People experience various forms of stress at home, work, in social settings, and when engaged in activities to simply have fun, such as playing sports. Police officers experience stress the same as others, but also in ways much different than the average citizen. The dangers, violence, and tragedy seen by officers result in added levels of stress not experienced by the general population.

Organizational stress affects many officers but is not as obvious as other stressors that take place. Police departments vary in size and resources, in spite of this, most organizational structures of departments follow a hierachial bureaucracy. Organizational stressors may include