Introduction
Law enforcement officers, especially police, are first responders to calls for protection and criminal activity. Hence, it is important to maintain health of law enforcement officers in order to enable continuity of their engagement as protectors. These jobs or duties are not always easy. In fact, they encounter life threatening and stressful situations. Work place stress is something which needs to be dealt and if not may cause unfavorable situations and impact on performance of officers. This intervention strategy will focus on possible solution to reduce work place stress.
The issue
Police officers, in their day to day routine works, engages in prevention of crime and protection of persons and public and private property. Their work involves physical risk to their person. In addition, they also goes through stress due to handling tense situations or lack of sleep having to work in night shifts. Apart from all these, according to (Finn & Tomz, 1996), major reason for stress, officers goes through due to inconsistent arbitrary internal disciplinary procedures, frequent transfers, favoritism by administrator, antagonistic subcultures within the department and lack of carrier development opportunities.
Research shows, stress and anxiety is inherent in the work of law enforcement officers. And due to such problems, officers experience lack of ability to concentrate which results in poor performs and absenteeism causing addition burden to other colleagues (The Art of Living, 2003). These conditions need to be mitigated through improved intervention strategies. Following strategies is developed to address the need to reduce stress in the work environment of police departments.
Proposed Intervention Strategies
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...ery officer annually. Officers are to be encouraged to apply techniques taught in the class to build their time management skills. And, supervisor are required to monitor and guide the process continually. Careful planning which involves time management is important to reduce stress and police response time. Reduced response time is considered as indicator of police performance and effective policing (Rashbaum, 2002)
Conclusion
Stress is not always a bad, however, if it cross beyond reasonable level, likelihood of undergoing a mental and physical disorders is highly likely. These intervention strategies would assist to reduce stress level in police departments if carefully implemented. Improved mental and physical health conditions will contribute to cut the absenteeism which in turn will provide lesser burden laid on the other officers as a result of absenteeism.
Gilmartin, K. M. Emotional survival for law enforcement, a guide for officers and their families. 1st ed. Arizona: E-S Press, 2002.
The job of a law enforcement officer sometimes can be tough. Officer are sometimes plagued with situation that test their ability to enforce the law and maintain order. Police officers today face a constant battle to maintain higher ethical standards. This mission becomes tougher each day when one considers the importance of fighting terrorism, drugs, human trafficking,
The use of force, particularly with correlation to officer morale and/or inadequate education/training, has become particularly problematic. Measures should be taken to reduce the injury to suspects, particularly physical injury resulting from poor officer tactics or malicious intentions not related to upholding the law. These are problems, which, if properly handled and rectified, will result in improved officer morale, improved relationships with the public as well as ensure a continued upstanding reputation for the oldest police force in the nation.
Correctional institutions are unique work settings because of the unpredictable nature of their physical environment and clientele. Correctional officers are responsible for supervising individuals whom are held against their will. The correctional officer’s main focus is that of security within the institution and for the community. However, they are typically faced with a limited amount of resources and thus must assume these responsibilities without adequate support. The relationship between work resources and job stress indicates that correctional work settings that emphasize involvement, coworker cohesion and managerial support can decrease stress levels (Waters, 1999). Unfortunately, this is a rather uncommon occurrence, leaving correctional officers to face stressors without proper intervention due to fear of stigmatization. Within law enforcement, those individuals who access “mental health” services are labeled as and treated similarly (Aredondo, Shumway, Kimball, Dersch, Morelock, 2002). However, research on effective ways to prevent or reduce the physical and psychological effects of the high levels of stress correctional officers face on a daily basis is limited and a rather new phenomenon. This literature review examines the reasons for correctional officer stress, the implications of such stress, and interventions that are being put in place to combat the consequences of such stress.
the psychological health of police, fire, and ambulance officers.” International Journal of Stress Management, Vol. 11, pp. 227-44.
The law enforcement officers suffer quite more job-associated stress than the people living in the community. Many have had to realize that the nature of the profession itself may be exposing officers to the increased levels of stressors. In essence, job-associated stress is among the major health concerns of the law enforcement community, and this is because it can have some impact on the physical, mental and emotional well-being of the officers. The difference in the stressors between the law enforcement personnel and other individuals is the fact that, the enforcement officials get to interact with the human population that are quite angry, upset or even uncooperative, in which case it takes some toll on
Some of the world’s most-loved and well-known superheroes include Superman, Batman, and Spiderman. However great these superheroes may appear, their fictional stories also include stressors that they face everyday, such as the villains that they encounter and the pressure of being a hero and an everyday citizen. In this way, stress often negatively impacts the lives of the ones who watch over every neighborhood, every street, and every house. Such is the job of a police officer. Because stress has become an important topic in the community of law enforcement, things that are commonly discussed are the causes of stress, the effects of stress, and the handling of stress in the lives of police officers.
Everyday law enforcement personal have the possibility to face dangerous events in their daily duties. In performing such duties a police officer could come by a seemingly ordinary task, and in a blink of an eye the event can turn threatening and possible deadly. When or if this happens to an officer they won’t have
Have you ever wondered what it is like to be a law enforcement officer? Most people imagine driving fast and running after the “bad guys”. While this is one part of many law enforcement careers, there are many other things that law enforcement officers do in their daily duties. While law enforcement is an exciting career, officers must be able to face dangerous situations daily, be organized, have good writing skills and work well with high stress situations.
This paper will show four different police departments that are currently hiring or recruiting for police officers. There will be a summary on the research found on the process used to recruit police officers. It will also show their current hiring trends and what hiring practices they have that are successful or not successful. The paper will also go over the different methods departments use to train their new officers and their values.
Learn to manage your time wisely. Plan ahead! Time management can help you stay calm and focused regardless of the current situation you are in.
What can be done to manage and/or apply preventative measures to prevent stress in the workplace?
Time management is essential in the workplace and it can help eliminate many other problems that could arise if time is poorly managed. By using the various time and stress management techniques available it is possible to reduce or even eliminate stress. A person who manages their time well can benefit from an organised, manageable workload with enough time to complete the jobs and tasks that are of any importance. Time management can have a direct effect on a persons stress levels and it is important that stress levels are kept to a minimum to ensure optimum performance, efficiency and general well being.
3. maintain courageous calm in the face of danger: I think that this is very important, police officers must not bring their family problems on the job with them. Doing this will only cause more problems for both his occupation and his family life.
In order to find a solution to the issue of stress in the workplace, it is important to first understand what stress is. Stress is a difficult issue to solve because everyone experiences stress differently. According to the National Institute of mental health, stress can be defined as the brain’s response to any demand (“Fact Sheet on Stress”). When there is any sort of change going on, it usually triggers the stress response. Since people are always dealing with certain changes in their lives, they are always dealing with some type of stress. One of the biggest growing issues with stress is stress in the workplace. According to Northweste...