Police Stress and Deleterious Outcomes: Efforts Towards Improving Police Mental Health

Police officers are subjected, daily, to critical incidents and work-related stressors that negatively impact nearly every aspect of their personal and professional lives. They have resisted openly acknowledging this for fear of being labeled. This research examined the deleterious outcomes on the mental health of police officers, specifically on the correlation between years of service and change in worldviews, perception of others, and the correlation between repeated exposure to critical events and experiencing Post-Traumatic Symptoms. The Cumulative Career Traumatic Stress Questionnaire- Revised (Marshall in J Police Crim Psychol 21(1):62−71, 2006) was administered to 408 current and prior law enforcement officers across the United States. Significant correlations were found between years of service and traumatic events; traumatic events and post-traumatic stress symptoms; and traumatic events and worldview/perception of others. The findings from this study support the literature that perpetual long-term exposure to critical incidents and traumatic events, within the scope of the duties of a law enforcement officer, have negative implications that can impact both their physical and mental wellbeing. These symptoms become exacerbated when the officer perceives that receiving any type of service to address these issues would not be supported by law enforcement hierarchy and could, in fact, lead to the officer being declared unfit for duty. Finally, this research discusses early findings associated with the 2017 Law Enforcement Mental Health and Wellness Act and other proactive measures being implemented within law enforcement agencies who are actively working to remove the stigma associated with mental health in law enforcement.