Issues in Policing Response

"Policing is a psychologically stressful work environment filled with danger, high demands, ambiguity in work encounters, human misery and exposure to death" ("Science Daily", 2008). With that being said, there are numerous issues facing law enforcement today. A career in law enforcement is not only physical but also a demanding psychological job. Officers are faced with terrorist threats, danger on the job and the decision on what type of force to use dependent on the situation they are faced with. They are often blamed for racial profiling and experience law suits. Officers face death every time they report for duty, they are giving their life. Law enforcement for years has been faced with corruption in the departments. The stress and late night hours of the job becomes an issue on a daily basis, affecting family life and at times mentally ruining the officer. Safety is always an issue along with the multicultural world we live in. Different cultural backgrounds and language barriers they deal with along with budget cuts, also makes their job extremely challenging.
According to "Science Daily" (2008), “Policing is dangerous work, and the danger lurks not on the streets alone. The pressures of law enforcement put officers at risk for high blood pressure, insomnia, increased levels of destructive stress hormones, heart problems, post-traumatic stress disorder and suicide, researchers have found through a decade of studies of police officers” (1). These are some way the mentioned issues affect local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies. Examples of other affects to agencies would be, corruption, it not only affects law enforcement agencies, the officer, and his department, but it also affects society. Another example is working in a multicultural world affects the meaning, intention and interpretations to law enforcement agencies. They have to have knowledge and understand all three when it comes to a criminal, If not this can cause added stress and