The Role Of 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.

Emotional Survival for Law Enforcement by Kevin M. Gilmartin, Ph.D. is a book that seeks to inform and instruct those seeking to be in law enforcement, law enforcement professionals and their families of the realities of a career in law enforcement- professionally and personally. And how to best prepare for emotional survival of “on-duty and off-duty” life. It also compares and contrasts what happens to officers at the beginning of this journey and what typical happens to officers overtime; focusing mainly on what happens to officers that don’t know the techniques of emotional survival. Though it

In policing there are often two types of police officers, the “crime fighter” and the “public servant” (Pollock, 2015). The main goal and

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).

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

The employee assistance program (EAP) assists workers with various issues that they might be experiences, ranging from problems on the job to problems at home. This program does cost the organization money but is free to employees. The reason why this program exist is to help people fix their issues so that they can come to work and focus on their task instead of any problems that they might be

Employee Assistance Programs (EAPs) are an extremely effective vehicle for addressing and resolving poor workplace performance that may stem from an employee’s personal problems, including alcohol and drug abuse.

A bad day at the office for most people might result in a late report or missing an important deadline. A bad day at the office in law enforcement could result in death or great bodily harm. Officers put their lives on the line daily, challenging their mental stability, physical health, and emotional well-being. It’s been proven that individuals who work under these environments suffer from illnesses such as heart disease, obesity, depression and are often outlived by their peers with less stressful daily lives. (Griffith, 2014, pg.24) Because of the physical and emotional stressors related to a career in law enforcement, it is even more crucial to obtain a healthy lifestyle through managing stress, and placing an emphasis on personal nutritional

Employee Assistance Program (EAP) is a program that helps employees, and their family out in their time of need. This program is free and confidential to its clients. They are there for support, and any problem that may come for an employee at anytime of being hired with the company. In addition, maybe recommendation could come from a supervisor that may see a need to send their employees. EAP may also help supervisors with troubling conflict that arise in the workplace. According to Mosley, Mosley, & Pietri, EAP is a program that provide counseling to its employees that is struggling with work or home life. (Mosley, Mosley, & Pietri., 2008, pgs. 346-347)

New officers enter law enforcement every day with different backgrounds and beliefs. Police officers are believed and trusted by the authority and justice system since police work revolves around enforcing laws. They are expected to believe in them, and almost have to. If the people that enforce laws were not trusted by the justice system, what would society think? No progress would be made, as crime rate would then increase because of this. Value systems and other emotional connections come into affect right away as an officer enters law enforcement. "The police family", and "the police brotherhood" are a few identifiable names directed towards officers that reflect their group or department of officers that they are a part of.

A law enforcement officer’s job can be described in many different forms. It can go from very boring to very exhilarating in a spilt second. The job on the outside can seem very glamorous from a laypersons point of view. The fact of the matter is the job looking from the inside out can be disgusting at times routine and very treacherous. The law enforcement officer can be everyone’s worst enemy while on patrol looking for law violators; then be the hero when he runs into a burning building or runs toward an armed gunman. There has been an increased recognition by law enforcement administrators of the stresses placed on officers by the many difficulties of the job. While many look at officers as superman, others see the hidden difficulty faced by those officers’ badges. Studies have shown us that officers along with first responders who are exposed to life threatening events are at risk for developing posttraumatic stress disorder or PTSD, alcohol abuse, panic attacks and medical issues (Komarovskaya et al., 2014)

Offer Employee Assistance Programs (EAPs). EAPs can lead to a decrease in worker’s compensation claims, absenteeism and employer healthcare costs.

In this research paper I will find information about how stressful law enforcement is and how it is handled by police officers. I am interested in this topic because I am going into law enforcement and most likely I will face the same problem that millions of other police officers and law enforcers face. I will research what causes police officers a greater risk for stress and how they cope with it. I will also research the wrong ways to manage stress and what their outcomes are. I will use online web pages and a scholarly article for my research paper.

Police work is considered one of the most stressful and taxing occupations of today’s society. The duties and responsibilities of policemen and women are put into place in order to keep the community and its inhabitants as safe and organized as possible. With that, police officers are required to work grueling hours, deal with noncompliance among individuals, and respond to potentially very dangerous incidents everyday. The frequent exposure to these high stress events causes a numerous amount of police officers to develop a weakened mental status as well as impaired physical distress. As a result, the mental and or physical traumas these men and women are experiencing may affect their ability to perform in the field. In order to ensure the safety of both the community and these police officers, it is essential for one to analyze and acknowledge the stressors causing these impairments. Recognizing these stressors, as well as the positive and negative coping mechanisms that come with them, may help to minimize and avoid the mental and physical pressures that are currently happening in the police force.

Police and other agencies within law enforcement receive multiple calls for service daily. They enter a world of the unknown while being required to serve and protect the general public fairly, without bias toward race, religion, gender, or political affiliation. They are confronted with serious crimes that they must deal with at any given moment, on any given day. Law enforcement officers may receive a call-for-service to handle a domestic dispute where weapons are involved, respond to call where a pet was tossed in traffic from an overpass, and become involved in a [shots fired – officer down] police run, all during an eight-hour day. Police and other law enforcement agencies must always be prepared for the unknown