Stress In Law Enforcement

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.

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

They must take control of their personal lives, and learn possibly through therapy how to cope, survive and move on from the events that happen in their professional life in which they have no control over. Gilmartin describes how officers can become equipped professionals of emotional survival on and off-duty. On-Duty; knowing as an officer there are only three things you can control; integrity, professionalism, and how well you do the job you are assigned to do. Off duty; proactive goal setting (outside of police work), exercise, and developing and nurturing other roles in life besides the hypervigilant police role; enabling officers to manage their lifestyle healthy. I believe this encapsulates Gilmartin’s books main points and demonstrates his goal; to help keep law enforcement officers healthy, by providing skill sets physically and emotionally, to survive the career. By not losing all of ones identity to just being a cop, while remaining committed, engaged and productive on and off-duty.

In the first article titled Stress and Health in Law Enforcement is a study over officer’s health. From this study many things were found. First, as stress increased so did poor sleep quality. Female officers were four times more likely and male officers were six times more likely to have a poor sleep quality when dealing with stress. Secondly, female officers had stress that related to lack of support and organizational and administrative pressure. Male officers on the other hand did not. Thirdly, As BMI and abdominal height increased in men so did depression. There was no association found in women. Fourthly, the suicide rates were 8.4 times higher in officers that were working than officers that were retired. Lastly, officers who worked

Job related stress is one of the most common causes of heart disease in the workplace. However, in my current career as a Deputy Sheriff, I have more stress from work related issues then the stress that comes from everyday life. Besides the job related stress issues and concerns, my job is very rewarding to me. I have the opportunity to help people and give them a sense of security. However, there are times where the workplace is not so rewarding because we are over worked and under paid. Also the constant changes to the workplace policies and procedures are designed to benefit the employer instead of the employee is major cause in job stress. These types of stressful situations may affect police personnel on every level.

     It is important that law enforcement officers are able to handle stress and build his or her zone of stability. Officers have a ready-made support system in each other. They better understand the special problems and feelings that come with the job that friends and family members don’t. That doesn’t necessarily mean that this relationship with their fellow officers will cure all. Sometimes, because of the “macho” image that police officers uphold, they will give back negative feedback in a situation where an officer needs comfort. For example, an officer shoots someone in the line of duty and is having an emotional struggle with it, and a fellow officer (who

Some situations that lead cops to stress were 911, and Boston bombing. 123 cops killed in 2015 in the United States (Law enforcement facts 1). 1439 cops working on duty have got shot in the past 10 years (law enforcement facts). Cops job are to keep everyone safe and sense these terrorist attacks happened they are not doing their job. These situations lead cops to post-traumatic stress, survivor guilt (Marx 1). Another incident that lead to cops having more stress was Ferguson Missouri killing lead cops to stress when citizens during that shooting were saying that white cops are

The threat of inmate violence against officers, actual violence committed by inmates, inmate demands and manipulation and problems with coworkers are all conditions that officers have reported as contributors to stress (Parker, 2006). The job of a correctional officer encompasses a wide array of activities. Officers are required to maintain order, security and control (Castle & Martin, 2006). Through the day their responsibilities may be revised as they are faced with an ever changing environment. As correctional staff feel conflict exists within their assigned duties and perceive a lack in control over their tasks, work stress will result (Tweksbury & Tiggins, 2006).

Various research shows that the suicide rate of law enforcement officers is increasing at a high rate, and that officers are more likely to commit suicide than members of the general public. Researchers have examined possible causes and risk factors that lead to this discrepancy. Although mental health resources are available, many officers choose not to utilize them and take their own lives.

Stress in policing can be seen in all ranks and police departments across the country. The job of a police officer cannot compare to any job in the civilian sector. Police officers train to deal with the bad scenarios, but even with all the preparations in place things can go wrong. Police officers are the first responders for criminal activity and are the first ones to see human suffering. From dealing with murders, robberies, rape, or child abuse police officers must deal with the situation at hand in a professional manner. This can lead to stress because not everyone reacts the same to these situations. Some police officers can easily deal with a dead body, whereas others are traumatized for life after viewing a corpse. Another stress factor is

A study of 2376 Buffalo NY police officers found that compared to the white male population police officers had higher mortality rates for cancer, suicide, and heart disease. The suggested reason: Higher stress levels.

Many believe that stress is a simple problem, however it is often misunderstood and more complex than they believe (p. 181, Griffin & Moorhead, 2014). Stress is the physiological and psychological response to excessive and usually unpleasant stimulation as well as threatening events in the environment (p. 284, Schultz and Schultz, 2010). Stress appears in silent and subtle ways but this negative response affects millions of employees in all levels of all types of jobs (p. 284, Schultz and Schultz, 2010). If identified

This week readings were about diversity, stress and officer safety. From this week’s lesson, I learned the main concepts of stress. The two main types of stress are eustress and distress. Eustress is positive and distress is negative. Some stress can be considered pleasurable as in when a stressful situation can lead to good outcome for example favorite sports team. There are also two forms distress that can affect a police officer behavior. The first one is acute stress which is a psychological condition that arise in a terrifying or traumatic event that creates sudden stress. Next is chronic stress is emotional pressure over time that the individual feel they have no control over. All of these types of stresses police officer has to deal

Law Enforcement has been listed as one of most stressful jobs in the United States. These high levels of stress can compromise the safety and well-being of not only the officers themselves, but also that of those who interact with the officers outside of the job (Van Hasselt et al. , 2008). Some health concerns surrounding this form of stress may include post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), alcohol and drug use, domestic disputes, and other forms of mental illness.

Stress happens to everyone and it is usually not seen as something so serious. Police officers usually have higher stress levels due to the fact that people’s safety are in their hands. Historically, law enforcement agencies did not recognize the seriousness of the high levels of stress, and police officers were forced to deal with it on their own. When assistance was finally available, most officers chose not to seek help because it would make them seem weak. However, Police stress needs to be taken into consideration as a serious matter, and even several studies have shown that police fatigue has similar effects as those alcohol. To Police officers, stress caused by the job can sometimes be overwhelming. This can affect their