Stress In Law Enforcement Research Paper

Stressors of Law Enforcement Officers

Kaplan University

Stressors of Law Enforcement Officers
Policing is dangerous work and one of those dangers is stress. Law enforcement officers face many different issues day in and day out. The issues not only affect them professionally, they also affect them on a personal level. Officers have the ability to affect a community in positive and negative ways, but at the same time the community plays just as much of a role on officers. The community is able to have positive and negative effects on the officers.
Law enforcement officers face more than public safety concerns; they also face stress, which can negatively influence their physical and mental health. They experience many different personal issues from the job most of all resulting from the high level of stress in the job. According to a decade of studies done by the University of Buffalo 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. Not all of the stress comes from the activities of the officers. Stress also comes from the shift work. Another study done by the
According to Laura Walter 40 percent of the officers were obese, compared with 32 percent of the general population. Officers are at an increased risk of developing Hodgkin’s lymphoma and brain cancer after 30 years of service. Many consequences can happen if an officer tried to get help for their stress or any other concerns they may have. An example may be if you were to go to mental counseling, officers may not be considered for promotions and or their peers and superiors may shame them. Because of consequences like that, many law enforcement officers do not attempt to get any type of assistance for their mental or physical