Introduction to Police Stress

by Hal Brown, LICSW
Police Stress Therapist and Special Police Officer

This web site deals with the unique stress of police work. When I refer to police stress what I say often applies to stress among all of those working in public safety: correction officers, firefighters, dispatchers, EMS personnel, and police families and of course police wives and police husbands. Other public safety professions protect and serve, and much of what Police  Stressline is about will be relevant to those of you who aren't police officers. But the specific phrase police stress has become a term that defines the stress of a being a member of a unique subculture within society composed of people who deal not only with life and death, but with the apprehension of criminals and dealing on a daily basis with the ambivalence of the average citizen to those who wield the power and authority of the badge.

But again, having received numerous comments since starting this web site in February of 1998, I'm appreciative of the stress all public safety personnel have to cope with. All you have to do is observe an accident scene when firefighters, EMS, dispatchers, and police are all working together,  to understand the commonalties between these professions.  These are the people who run towards gunfire, not away from it; and go into burning buildings, not out of them, and can be counted on to be good Samaritans even off-duty.

In these violent times any crime or accident scene can erupt into a dangerous confrontation. Who ever heard the term "road rage" ten years ago? Who ever thought  saliva would become a potential weapon? " The initials A.I.D.S. meant nothing. Latex gloves and eye protectors have probably saved as many public safety personnel lives (and a lot of worry) as bulletproof vests. Children with guns? Unheard of in the 1970's. The list goes on and on.  Now it includes domestic and foreign terrorists.  How many small-town officers who never carried their weapons off-duty unless they ventured into the "big city" and are now armed when they take the family for a pizza in the local restaurant?
Police and correction officers belong to a subculture within the subculture of public safety because of the power of the badge and the dangers that go with carrying it. Whether you call it "The Thin Blue Line" or just "the job", carrying that badge and gun does make you someone different because of:

the awesome authority to arrest without a warrant, to take away if only for a short time our most basic freedom which is to come and go as we please, a decision left solely to the police officer on numerous occasions;

the more mundane but most significant authority to the average citizen, which is to make traffic stops, write tickets, and in varying degrees inconvenience, intimidate, and cost the taxpayer time and money;

and of course, the power of the gun (and baton, pepper spray, etc.);

the police can under certain circumstances kill or physically harm a citizen. Even the military can't do this unless mobilized and authorized to do so;

virtually every aspect of your life has the potential to bring on police stress, from marital and family relationships to how everyday citizens treat you when off duty.

Police and correction officers (as well as prison nurses, counselors and doctors) never know when they may become the target of individuals who intend to harm or kill them, whether for revenge over a specific gripe, out of hate, an officer-assisted suicide attempt or paranoia.

Like firefighters who must enter burning buildings and EMS personnel who deal with AIDS, hepatitis and TB as well as violent subjects, they must also be willing to put their lives on the line to protect citizens. Any member of the emergency response team can become a target, but it is more likely to happen to police officers.

Police stress takes a huge toll. Police stress can come on quickly as a result of a critical incident like a shooting, or it can come on slowly. Police often don't seek counseling for reasons which are discussed in articles here. Police counseling is a relatively new mental health specialty. Police counseling hasn't attracted many mental health professionals. Reasons for this are also discussed in an article on this web site, but briefly it has to do in part with the fact that many psychotherapists haven't been inclined to get the first hand exposure to police and police work needed to develop a genuine knowledge base and true empathy for what it is like to be "on the job".

Police counseling, police peer counseling, even critical incident stress management, and critical incident stress debriefing (CISM and CISD) while they have been known to be exceeding helpful for at least twenty years, are still not employed often enough. While society is fascinated by the police profession, police stress is not part of the "glamorous" aspect of "the job".  For every depiction in the media of police stress there must be a hundred car chases and shoot-outs. I cannot emphasize enough that police stress is an issue that everyone, from police officers and those close to them, and others in the "on the front line" professions, needs to fully understand and in a sense inoculate themselves against as best they can. It is too easy and entirely natural for people working in these professions to use humor and denial as ways to avoid the emotional impact of what they see and do as part of their jobs. I am frequently reminded of this, and it was brought home to me when I talked to a MedFlight nurse at a training exercise. She told me about how she and her colleagues use humor to cope with the fact that they see only the most serious cases and have the most loss of life despite their valiant efforts.
At least she is working in a team all of the time. Police officers usually return to solo patrol duty after an incident which brings them together with other officers or members of the EMS team.
Police officers experience more police stress when their assignment is such that they work cases or crime scenes alone, or when, because of the culture within their department,  they keep their feelings to themselves because they don't want to take the time and energy to explain details to their colleagues, who after all, may have problems of their own. Police stress gets worse if in these circumstances, the officer doesn't have a spouse or partner to open up to.
Seeking professional help or even showing emotion when "debriefing" after handling a trauma is sometimes seen as a weakness. It is important for good mental health that CISM, CISD and police counseling are seen as valid, vital resources for those who truly protect and serve us. I say this not just because police stress counseling is my area of specialty, but because I have police and correction officers who are my friends as well.

 
Working as a reserve officer for twenty years doesn't make me a "real cop", but it has made me some true friends, and has given me a better appreciation of police stress than I would otherwise have. I will be writing about police stress and responding to your concerns as you let me know about them on this web site. I promise to be forthright and direct, because you have enough "police stress" without having "shrink stress" thrown at you too.

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