Causes and Impact of Stress on Police Officers

Causes and Impact of Stress on Police Officers
Stress plays a critical role in the lives of humans. It is not possible to avoid stress in some situations. For instance, the pressure causes students to study harder for an exam, improving their grades. However, stress can have negative implications if it is prolonged. There is a growing preoccupation with the problem of stress in the workplace. For police officers, police stress implies the negative pressures related to their work. Police officers are not superhuman. While they are in positions of authority, they are forced to make life and death decisions regularly, making stress significantly negatively impacting them. One of the major issues for police officers is that stress can go unnoticed. Some officers could be under constant stress but unable to seek medical attention. Sometimes, police officers may deny stress because they fear being considered weak and unable to execute their duties. Stress has negative implications, hence the need to explain its major causes and impact on officers' professional and personal lives.
Major Causes of Stress
Police officers work under strenuous administrative policies and procedures. In most cases, officers are less involved in formulating those policies and procedures, yet they must follow them to the letter. The superiors do not care how some have negative implications on the mental health of the police officers (Richards, Suarez & Arocha, 2021). One-officer patrol cars create anxiety for the officer involved. Such an arrangement makes a reduced sense of safety. When operating in an environment that has a high crime rate, one officer patrol car subjects the officer involved to danger. The officer will be more anxious because of the possibility of being attacked and harmed. Additionally, internal investigations practice sent a message of being watched. Police officers feel that their superiors do not trust them. Even when off duty, police officers feel they do not have the freedom to mingle freely with the rest of society. Such an arrangement creates a sense of loneliness and subjects them to stress. When officers have challenges, they cannot navigate the complex policies and procedures to air their grievances. Unlike employees in other sectors, officers have to follow instructions, otherwise, they risk being terminated. Consequently, stress continues to build up when they can do little because of the laid down policies and procedures.
Additionally, police officers operate in a demanding environment. When in areas that have a high rate of crime, their lives are constantly in danger. In some instances, police officers witness criminals killing their colleagues. Being in a crossfire with criminals presents a danger to police officers (Buker & Wiecko, 2007). Even on the streets, officers are in constant danger of being targeted by criminals who are revenging because of the arrest of their counterparts. Further, police are exposed to dead individuals. When homicides occur, police officers are called in to address the situation. Seeing dead bodies is traumatizing. It becomes more complicated when the victims are children. Moreover, some situations require officers to use force. When dealing with violent individuals, police officers ...