Understanding Stress in Law Enforcement

In a society that appears to have lost its moral compass in so many ways, the escalation of petty and violent crime, and the constant threat that substance abuse poses on the modern community model, civilians are relying on the police more than ever before. The role of law enforcement as fearless, and flawless public servants has come to be expected 100% of the time. Reality, however, paints a different picture; the humanity of law enforcement personnel can, and does sometimes lead even the most respected and devoted police officers into the abyss of alcoholism, domestic abuse, and other stress-related problems. This paper explores the various areas of stress in law enforcement, and concludes with recommendations to prevent flawed individuals from becoming police officers from the outset.

Stress Defined

The Abstract of this paper spoke of the side effects of stress in law enforcement; because of the central role of stress in this research, it is important to first have a solid grasp of what is meant by stress. Amazingly enough, while most people will glibly say that they are under stress or feeling stressed, these same people would be hard pressed in most cases to define what stress actually is. Reality is that even the "experts" on stress are unable to develop a convenient definition for stress, or more precisely, a definition that truly projects the complexity and variety of stress in the modern world. As a matter of fact, the concept of stress that we speak of actually emerged in the nineteenth century, as such events as the Industrial Revolution gave rise to large cities, hectic lifestyles, and the challenges and problems that contribute to stress (Kugelmann, 1992). Therefore, perhaps the best way to define stress is that it is a combination of human interaction, environment, and life events, working in combination, to create the feeling of worry, anger, depression, and the like in individuals. In other words, the stress experience actually varies by individual, but the effects can be seen clearly in some very "stressful" occupations, like law enforcement. With this in mind, manifestations of stress in police officers, for example, become more relevant. One of the most common of these manifestations is the unusually high percentage of alcohol related problems among police officers, in comparison to the general population (Glenn, et al, 2003).

Alcohol Related Problems Among Police Officers

As we have indicated, alcohol related problems among police officers are generally higher than those in a cross-section of the rest of the general population of a given community. While one would think that in seeing how alcohol holds the awesome potential to destroy lives on a daily basis, police officers would be less likely to become involved with alcohol. Interestingly enough, however, there is evidence to suggest that police officers become involved in excessive alcohol consumption because they are police officers. This can be found on its most basic level in the modern day public perception of police officers. While police officers have admittedly had good and bad officers in their ranks since police officers have existed, the public perception of police officers, as well as other law enforcement personnel has become tarnished over the years. This is due to the typical portrayal of police officers in the media, in movies and books as corrupt individuals whose aim is to hurt rather than help civilians (Ray, 2001). This is the classic story of bad news selling more newspapers and attracting a larger audience than good news. In fact, most people can even remember being told as children that if they did not behave, a police officer was going to lock them in jail and throw away the key. Therefore, we are almost born with a poor view of police officers, and this is fed as we grow older and begin to follow current events. For the new police officer, who strives to be a respected professional and build a solid career, this false generalization can lead them into despair, accompanied by such behaviors as the abuse of alcohol.

Obviously, alcohol abuse causes problems for any individual in any occupation or walk of life, but the police officer has some very unique and dangerous problems that accompany the alcohol use and misuse in their lives. The police officer has to make split second decisions, regarding not only their own life and death, but the lives and deaths of countless civilians on a daily basis. When reasoning ability is dulled or distorted by alcohol, indeed the outcome can quite literally become deadly. Ironically enough, these poor decisions only serve to add to the poor public image of police officers, driving officers deeper into despair and destructive lifestyle choices like alcoholism.

Fortunately for police officers, the alcohol related problems that often "come with the territory" have not gone unnoticed. Across the law enforcement community, agencies worldwide have begun to utilize programs and services to help afflicted officers to put their lives back in order (Henry, 2004).

Common Reactions to Stress

Stress can obviously affect different people in different ways, both inside and outside of law enforcement circles. With this in mind, there are reactions to stress that commonly take place, however, regardless of the background or situation of the individual.

Physical manifestations of stress can commonly include jitters, sweating, increased heartbeat, pulse and blood pressure, and the like (Inglehart, 1991). The exhibition of the reactions to stress can vary of course, from the aforementioned substance abuse problems, to violence, despair, and in many cases, especially for police officers, suicide.

Common Factors Related to Police Suicide

Suicide is a universally recognized reaction to intense stress and pressure in the lives of individuals (Inglehart, 1991), but for police officers, there are some factors in their careers, spilling over into their personal lives, which drive police personnel to take their own lives. Overall, of course, the intense pressure under which police officers must constantly perform, and the expectations of them by a public which views them in a less than favorable light to begin with are significant enough to account for many of the suicides that occur. However, there is also something else more pervasive which emerges in the literature that must be acknowledged and identified.

Police officers can often find an escape from the stresses of their occupations through the support of friends, family, religion, and other activities and resources outside of the law enforcement career path. For some officers, however, the demands of a law enforcement career cause their families to be divided by divorce, friendships strained, and even one's personal relationship with their God or gods put to the test (Henry, 2004). For these police personnel, seemingly without an escape from the pressure of law enforcement, they see the only way to escape is to take their own lives. Generally speaking, however, suicide victims give little thought to the aftermath they leave behind in the wake of their seemingly selfish actions. Again, it is fortunate that suicide prevention has also been embraced by law enforcement agencies in many cases (Ray, 2001).

Screening of New Officers to Minimize the Risk of Hiring Domestic Offenders

Looking at stress in law enforcement from the rather unique viewpoint of the stress that is created within law enforcement by the actions of those working in it, the issue of the hiring of police officers who are flawed in some way before joining law enforcement is also important. One area of particular interest is the screening of potential new officers to reduce the possibility that those hired are already domestic abusers/offenders, for placing them in the stressful environment of police work is akin to throwing fuel on a flame. With this prevention in mind, beyond the background checks and other devices which indicate prior behavior, psychological analysis tools have been developed which can also show potential behavior trends, thereby allowing for the aversion of problems before they occur- namely, the hiring of domestic offenders as police officers (Henry, 2004).

Conclusion

In this paper, we have looked at stress in, and in a way "on", law enforcement. As a conclusion, perhaps what is most important to take away from this research is the realization that law enforcement personnel, be they police or otherwise, are critical to the maintenance of domestic order and civility. If we do not protect these individuals and give them every opportunity to thrive in their daily duties, we have no one to blame but ourselves for the disastorous outcome that is sure to follow.

References

Glenn, R. W., Panitch, B. R., Barnes-Proby, D., Williams, E., Christian, J., Lewis, M. W., et al. (2003). Training the 21st Century Police Officer : Redefining Police Professionalism for the Los Angeles Police Department /. Santa Monica, CA: Rand.
Henry, V. E. (2004). Death Work: Police, Trauma, and the Psychology of Survival. New York: Oxford University Press.
Inglehart, M. R. (1991). Reactions to Critical Life Events: A Social Psychological Analysis (1st ed.). Westport, CT: Praeger Publishers.
Kugelmann, R. (1992). Stress: The Nature and History of Engineered Grief. Westport, CT: Praeger Publishers.
Ray, G. (2001, October). The EMOTIONS HIDDEN Behind A Badge. Corrections Today, 63, 98.