On-the-Job Stress in Policing—

1 On-the-Job Stress in Policing reducing It, Preventing It On-the-Job Stress in Policing reducing It, Preventing It Photo: EyeWireNational Institute of Justice JournalnJanuary 200019 police officers and membersoftheir families considertheir job to be one ofthemost is hard to disagreewith that assessment,as officersthemselves report high rates ofdivorce,alcoholism,suicide,andother emotional and health job is immune fromstress,but for the law enforcementofficer,the strains and tensionsexperienced at work are unique,often extreme,and ,many law enforcementagencies,recognizing the high tollexacted by Stress on officers andtheir families,are tackling it with anarray ofcreative prevention andreduction theCLEFS (Corrections and LawEnforcement Family Support)

2 Pro-gram ofthe National Institute ofJustice,several ofthese agencies arereceiving article summarizes an NIJreport that documented the causesand effects ofjob-related stressaffecting law enforcement officersand their oftheinformation was drawn from inter-views,conducted as part ofthestudy,with officers themselves andtheir family includ-ed in this article are highlights ofsome Stress prevention and reduc-tion programs reported in the studyand ofsome ofthe CLEFS of Stress Exposure to violence,suffering,anddeath is inherent to the professionoflaw enforcement other sources ofstress as who deal with offenders ona daily basis may view some sen-tences as too lenient;they may per-ceive the public s opinion ofpoliceperformance to be unfavorable;theyoften are required to work manda-tory,rotating shifts.

3 And they maynot have enough time to spend withtheir officers alsoface unusual,often highly disturb-ing,situations,such as dealing witha child homicide victim or the sur-vivors ofvehicle nature ofthe organizations inwhich officers work may also be asource departmentshistorically have been structuredalong military lines and as a resultoften have been rigidly hierarchicaland highly bureaucratic,with man-agement styles that can be in many instances policeculture is changing,in many othersthe leadership remains predomi-nately white and male,opportuni-ties for advancement are limited,and despite the ubiquity ofthe per-sonal computer,a large amount ofpaperwork still is Stress GettingWorse?Officers may increasingly view stressas a normal part oftheir job,butthey also see themselves as beingunder considerably more pressurethan they or their colleagues were 10 or 20 years see newsources ofstress in the high level ofviolent crime and in what theyperceive as greater public scrutinyand adverse also feelthat police camaraderie has declin-ed;they fear contracting air- andblood-borne diseases such as TBand HIV/AIDS;and they see them-selves as having to deal with suchrelatively new issues as culturaldiversity and the imperative of political correctness.

4 Even widely accepted changes in lawenforcement can lead to more stressfor some commu-nity policing may mean more jobsatisfaction,greater overall depart-mental efficiency,and highermorale,the transition to it can causeapprehension on the part oftheofficers who on a day-to-day basismust operationalize this fundamen-tal shift in the philosophy expectations arenew and perhaps not fully under- police officers see themselves as under more pressure than 10 or 20 years : EyeWire On-the-Job Stress in Policing reducing It, Preventing It20stood by all or notstress is increasing,identifying thecauses is a first step toward reducingand preventing it.(See How OneAgency Pinpointed Stress . )Counting the Ways:The Effects of StressThe physical and emotional effectsofstress are numerous and one ofthem can impairjob consequencesofjob-related Stress commonlyreported by police officers are: Cynicism and suspiciousness.

5 Emotional detachment from vari-ous aspects ofdaily life. Reduced efficiency. Absenteeism and early retirement. Excessive aggressiveness (whichmay trigger an increase in citizencomplaints). Alcoholism and other substanceabuse problems. Marital or other family problems(for example,extramarital affairs,divorce,or domestic violence). Post-traumatic Stress disorder. Heart attacks,ulcers,weight gain,and other health problems. to many counselors whowork with police officers,difficultieswith intimate relationships are themost common problem they Feel Stress ,TooIfthe effects on officers are severe,they can be similarly serious forofficers family onesurvey ofthe spouses ofpolice officers,a very large percentage said they experienced unusuallyhigh levels ofstress because oftheir spouse s felt by spouses is a concern inand ofitselfand also because astressful home environment canadversely affect the officer s job conditions,situa-tions,or incidents that may nottrouble the officers themselves orthat they may even enjoy,such asshift work or undercover work canmean severe problems for their ofstress commonlycited by officers spouses include.

6 Shift work and overtime. Concern over the spouse s cyni-cism,need to feel in control in thehome,or inability or unwilling-ness to express feelings. Fear that the spouse will be hurtor killed in the line ofduty. Officers and others excessivelyhigh expectations oftheir chil-dren. Avoidance,teasing,or harassmentofthe officer s children by otherchildren because ofthe parent sjob. Presence ofa gun in the home. The officer s 24-hour role as a lawenforcer. Perception that the officer prefersto spend time with coworkersrather than with his or her family. Too much or too little discussionofthe job. Family members perception ofthe officer as paranoid or exces-sively vigilant and overprotectiveofthem. Problems in helping the officercope with work-related problems.

7 Critical incidents, or the officer sinjury or death on the Stress affects family mem-bers,they are often the first to rec-ognize the officer s need for help,and they can play a crucial role byHow One Agency Pinpointed StressWhen the Baltimore police Department decided to seek out the sources of stressin the agency, they turned for assistance to public health researchers at nearbyJohns Hopkins University. With the Fraternal Order of police as the third partner,the Department created Project SHIELDS to take on this task as well as to developresponse strategies. The sources of Stress were identified by means of a survey, conducted by theresearchers, among line officers and spouses/life partners. Some of the resultswere surprising. For example, fully two-thirds of the officers said they consideredmedia reports of alleged police wrongdoing to be stressful to them.

8 The sameproportion said that what they view as lack of administrative support for officers introuble was a major source of Stress . Almost one-fourth reported low energy orchronic back pain, which they believed was related to job the Hopkins researchers complete their analysis of the survey data, they and the project s advisory board (officers and family members) will help theDepartment develop a response. Total quality management (TQM) teams will be established to focus on selected issues drawn from the research of officers from all ranks, the TQM teams will develop strategies toaddress aspects of organizational Stress identified in the survey as particularlyproblematic.** Unpublished progress report of Law Enforcement Work Stress and Family Support (Project SHIELDS), Johns Hopkins University School of Hygiene and Public Health,Baltimore, submitted to the National Institute of Justice, Department of Justice, by Robyn Gershon, Principal Investigator, March 31, 1999.

9 National Institute of Justice JournalnJanuary 200021encouraging him or her to seekassistance before the problembecomes is the conceptbehind the Spousal Academy,acomponent ofthe comprehensiveofficer and family support programoffered by the Collier County(Florida) Sheriff s Academy offers training tospouses and other domestic partnersofdeputies and recruits who areenrolled in the Office s 10-hour programinvolves an introduction to thenature oflaw enforcement work andan opportunity to discuss expecta-tions about the effect the spouses occupation will have on family learn about the struc-ture ofthe Sheriff s Office,aboutsuch human resource issues asemployee benefits (health insurance,for example),and about Stress man-agement and conflict related programs in the devel-opment stage are peer supportgroups for spouses and life partnersand for deputies adolescent feedback from partici-pants is part ofthe the program s effectiveness inconveying the reality ofwhat anofficer does on the the wordsofone spouse, I now realize someofwhat my husband goes through.

10 One ofthe comments heard mostfrequently concerns the value ofsimply meeting and interacting withother one participantcharacterized the spouse s role, Sometimes,this can be a lonelyjob. 6 Countering DomesticViolence There is some beliefthat a relativelylarge proportion oflaw enforcementofficers may be involved in domesticviolence,in part because ofthestressful nature ofthe enforcement agencies havebegun to turn their attention to theissue and devise ways to agency,the Los Angeles(County) Sheriff s Department(LASD),has adopted a zero-toler-ance policy toward domestic vio-lence,with a full range ofdiscipli-nary actions that could include dis-missal from the reduce thenumber ofdomestic violence inci-dents among the LASD s 8,000sworn officers,the Department bolstered the policy with a trainingprogram for all supervisory person-nel.