Police Burnout Essay

Few occupations involve employees facing many dangerous and stressful conditions as police officers. Officers are regularly under pressure, exposed to multiple stressors and uncertainty. When comparing work-related stress amongst dissimilar occupations with “data collected between 1988 and 2005, it was found that being a police officer was the second most stressful activity” (Glass et at., 1993). Involvement of stress can be harmful to the job performance, the public image of the police, and has different significances like turnover, absence, physical and mental diseases and, suicide due to access to firearms. Researchers have publicized an increasing curiosity in the study of police officers’ stress and burnout.

Research relating to the causes of burnout is mainly focused on external triggers, structural or social inspirations, disregarding individual responses and character as a possible reaction of a burnout (Glass et at., 1993). Nevertheless, it is imperative to be conscious that “some studies have examined the association between stress, burnout and personality

Officers work hours affect every aspect of their lives. Increasing the amount of control and predictability in one 's life improves psychological and physical characteristics, morale, and job satisfaction. It boosts morale within the organization when planning and decision making becomes a joint effort (Vila, 2009).

Police managers must evaluate the level of fatigue officers experience, the quality of their sleep and how tired they are while working, as well as their attitudes toward fatigue and work hours’ issues (Vila, 2009). Mangers should employ these strategies: administering sleep quality tests and training supervisors to identify signs of sleep deprivation. For example, falling asleep during a watch briefing and on how to deal with those who are too fatigued to work