VOLUME 20, ISSUE 1, PAGES 35–52 (2019)

Criminology, Criminal Justice, Law & Society

E-ISSN 2332-886X
Available online at
https://scholasticahq.com/criminology-criminal-justice-law-society/

Contemporary Police Stress:

The Impact of the Evolving Socio-Political Context

Jessica Saunders, Virginia Kotzias and Rajeev Ramchand

RAND Corporation

ABSTRACT AND ARTICLE INFORMATION

We interviewed representatives from 110 law enforcement agencies to examine how occupational stressors have
changed in recent years. The most frequently cited stressors involved day-to-day enforcement activities that put officers
in potentially dangerous situations, the administrative burden and shift work associated with the profession, family and
relationship challenges that accompany the job, and the state of police community relations and negative portrayal of the
police by the media. Respondents reported that officers experience increased fear and stress due to recent changes in the
socio-political environment, which is characterized by strained police-community relations, increased scrutiny associated
with the 24-hr news cycle, and the ubiquity of personal recording devices and sharing videos on social media. However,
generational shifts in the workforce and efforts to destigmatize mental health care has also changed the landscape of
police stress for the better.

Article History: Keywords:

Received April 09, 2018 police stress, officer resilience, police-community relations, black lives matter,
Received in revised form October 14,
2018
Accepted December 12, 2018

© 2019 Criminology, Criminal Justice, Law & Society and The Western Society of Criminology
Hosting by Scholastica. All rights reserved.

The wellness and safety of law enforcement officers is critical not only for the officers, their colleagues, and their
agencies but also to public safety.

– President's Task Force on 21st Century Policing (2015, p. 5)

Corresponding author: Jessica Saunders, RAND Corporation, 1776 Main Street, Santa Monica, CA, 90407, USA.
Email: jsaunder@rand.org
36 SAUNDERS, KOTZIAS, & RAMCHAND

Since the 1970s, a growing body of literature has cited due to their uniqueness to first responders and
explored the causes, symptoms, and social and public safety officials (Cross & Ashley, 2004; Rees &
psychological effects of stress on law enforcement Smith, 2008). Indeed, the exposure to potentially
officers. The law enforcement profession is associated traumatic experiences and events is higher for law
with high stress levels (Kirkcaldy, Cooper, & Ruffalo, enforcement officers than the general public: Over the
1995; Stack, 2001; Violanti et al., 2007; Violanti et al., course of a career, law enforcement officers may come
2009), so officer stress warrants special attention to into contact with deceased persons (Dabney, Copes,
mitigate its negative effects. Researchers have studied Tewksbury, & Hawk-Tourtelot, 2013), be exposed to
the nature and demands of the work that put police at risks to their personal safety (Woody, 2006), witness
risk of exposure to a number of acute and chronic violent interactions and respond to natural disasters
stressors (Davey, Obst, & Sheehan, 2001; (Violanti, Castellano, O'Rourke, & Paton, 2006), and
Martinussen, Richardsen, & Burke, 2007; Newman & manage the results of traumatic events such as traffic
Rucker-Reed, 2004). They have found that the time- accidents or crimes against children (Dabney et al.,
consuming administrative and legal responsibilities, 2013; Krause, 2009). One survey of law enforcement
such as filing reports or attending court dates, is officers found that the top three stressors in law
associated with stress as well. What researchers have enforcement are directly related to on-the-job
not examined closely is how the socio-political climate violence: responsibility for an officer-involved
may impact officer wellbeing. This study will examine shooting, a line-of-duty death of a fellow officer, and
the impact of high-profile conflicts between the police survival of a physical attack (Violanti et al., 2009;
and the communities they serve and how the Violanti & Samuels, 2007).
generational shifts might impact officer stress using These acute traumatic events, often described as
semi-structured interviews with police leadership and “critical incidents,” are a particular area of concern for
other individuals who support officer wellness. law enforcement agencies and other public health
As researchers and policymakers gain a more officials. A growing awareness of critical incidents
comprehensive understanding of the types of stressors and their potential to contribute to more serious mental
reported by law enforcement officers, three different health issues (such as posttraumatic stress disorder)
types of work-related stress have emerged from the has resulted in intervention development to reduce
literature: (1) operational stress, (2) organizational negative psychological repercussions of traumatic
stress, and (3) external pressure from the socio- exposure. However, psychiatric distress varies widely,
political context, along with the contextual and and the prevalence rate of mental health issues among
individual factors that can affect the way the stress is a population exposed to a critical incident is relatively
experienced. This study will add to the existing work low (8-15%; Liberman et al., 2002). Recent qualitative
on police stress in several important ways. First, there studies of law enforcement stress have found that law
have been changes in operations, policy and practice, enforcement professionals often become routinized to
job demands, technology, crime trends, officer seemingly traumatic environments as a result of
characteristics, police culture, and the socio-political repeated exposure, which may provide some
climate that may impact how police experience stress protection against stress (Dabney et al., 2013).
in the past few years. Second, most of the research into There has been some debate as to whether
police stress examines one (or a few) departments at a police work has become more dangerous and whether
time, which may not capture the diversity of law enforcement officers are, in fact, being exposed to
experiences across U.S. law enforcement agencies. To more traumatic events. In the past two decades, the
accomplish our aims, we relied upon interviews with number of officers killed and assaulted has decreased
over 100 law enforcement departments from across the slightly, and according to FBI statistics, they are
United States to gather information to understand responding to fewer violent crimes and traffic fatalities
whether and how police stress is changing. (see Table 1). The data collected on officers who were
killed and assaulted in the line of duty over the past 20
Literature Review years also paints a picture of conditions remaining the
same or even being safer, and researchers have not
Operational Stress identified an increase in the most serious violence
directed against officers or in response to the recent
Operational stress refers to stressors that are conflicts between the police and the community
related to job content or the features of police work (Maguire, Nix, & Campbell, 2017). The distribution of
inherent to the occupation. When police practitioners, exposure to these traumatic events among officers is
policymakers, and the lay public are asked to report on unknown, but it is likely that certain officers
the aspects of police work that they believe are most experience much higher rates of exposure than others.
stressful, operational stressors are most commonly However, these are only a few of the sources of

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 CONTEMPORARY POLICE STRESS 37

operational stressors; there are no data that officer is exposed to and whether it has changed over
comprehensively quantify how much trauma an the past decade.

Table 1: Traumatic Event Exposure among Law Enforcement Officers in the United States Over Time

1995 2000 2005 2010 2015

Officers Killed* 55 51 55 56 41
Officers Assaulted* 46,695 56,054 57,546 53,469 50,212
Homicides** 21,606 15,586 16,740 14,789 15,192
Violent Crime** 1,789,792 1,425,486 1,390,745 1,246,248 1,160,664
Rape** 97,470 90,178 94,472 84,767 94,717
Traffic Fatalities*** 37,221 37,409 43,443 22,273 22,441
Note: For officers killed, homicides, violent crime, rape, and traffic fatalities, the number presented identifies events, not the
number of officers who were exposed. Indeed, one officer may have been exposed to multiple events of a certain type whereas
another may never encounter any of these during the course of his or her career.
* From Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Law Enforcement Officers Killed and Assaulted
** From Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Uniform Crime Reports
*** From National Highway Transportation Security Administration Crash Statistics

leads to stress, and limits the ability of officers to plan

Organizational Stress
or enjoy time with family members (Anshel,
Despite law enforcement officers’ exposure to Umscheid, & Brinthaupt, 2013; Gelber, 2003;
acute trauma and critical incidents, much of the recent National Law Enforcement and Corrections
literature exploring law enforcement stress has Technology Center 2008; Page, 2010; Violanti, 2012;
coalesced around organizational issues as the primary Violanti et al., 2008; Wilkins Newman & Rucker-
contributor to officer stress. Organizational stress is Reed, 2004).
characterized by “job context,” or the characteristics Additionally, organizational culture and
of the organization that affect an officer’s daily management have also been identified as significant
responsibilities, career prospects, and experience factors affecting officer stress, job satisfaction, and
among peers (Shane, 2010). Issues such as well-being. As summarized by Wilkins Newman and
administrative burden, interpersonal conflict, and Rucker-Reed (2004),
scheduling are examples of organizational stress that
officers across rank and country identify as primary the major stressors for Deputy U.S. Marshals
stressors in their work (Davey et al., 2001; McCarty et were found to be those things associated with
al., 2007). These stresses have been linked to organizational factors, such as problems with
interpersonal discord both within and outside the management, bad bosses and the work
workplace, thereby impairing positive health benefits environment, instead of those issues related to risk
derived from a robust social support network (Ortega, of bodily harm or encounters with violence and
Brenner, & Leather, 2007). human misery. (p. 637)
Administrative burden has been cited as a factor
affecting law enforcement officer stress since at least These findings are consistent with several other
the late 1980s. This includes the growing demands for studies that have found that inept management
detailed reports to help support criminal convictions, (Garner, 2008; Ranta & Sud, 2008), failure to
increases in documentation requirements as part of recognize the accomplishments of officers (Cebulak,
increasing accountability standards, and other 2001; Loftus, 2008; Willetts, 2009), the provision of
paperwork requirements that necessitate the too little time to conduct a task (Martinussen et al.,
investment of an officer’s time and concentration. 2007; McCarty et al., 2007; Ranta & Sud, 2008), lack
Especially when combined with mandatory overtime of effective communication (Bonnar, 2000; Fox, 2007;
or increased frequency of shift work, officers cite Gelber, 2003; Mullins, 2001), and related issues have
paperwork as a significant stressor (Abdollahi, 2002; a negative effect on officer morale and contribute to
Zhao, He, & Lovrich, 2002). Shift work is another stress. There are no data on whether organizational
organizational factor that disrupts sleep schedules, stressors have meaningfully changed over the past

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38 SAUNDERS, KOTZIAS, & RAMCHAND

decade. However, in the age of increased Why is Police Stress Important?

accountability on both the organizational and the
Unmanaged stress in law enforcement officers has
officer level, there is reason to believe that
been linked with anxiety disorders (Reichenberg &
administrative burden and paperwork have become
MacCabe, 2007; Smith, Wolfe-Clark, & Bryan, 2016;
more complex and demanding (Walker & Archbold,
Wilkins Newman & Rucker-Reed, 2004), depression
2013).
(Berg, Hem, Lau, & Ekeberg, 2006; He, Zhao, & Ren,
Socio-Political Context of Policing 2005; Reichenberg & MacCabe, 2007; Violanti &
Samuels, 2007; Waters & Ussery, 2007), sleep
Stress can also come from how officers are treated
problems (Gerber, Hartmann, Brand, Holsboer-
by the network of people and organizations to whom
Trachsler, & Pühse, 2010; Violanti et al., 2007;
they are accountable, including the political
Violanti & Samuels, 2007; Waters & Ussery, 2007),
establishment, the public, and their friends and family.
and anger management issues (Marshall, 2001).
Accountability to each of these groups can affect an
Suicide ideation has similarly been linked to both
officer’s stress outside of the organizational or
acute (e.g., sleep disruption) and distal (e.g.,
operational concerns of the daily beat. Officers report
depression) effects of stress resulting from law
that political pressure to reform the agency and the
enforcement work (Gerber et al., 2010; Violanti,
policy changes to achieve various (sometimes
2012). High rates of officer stress are correlated with
conflicting) goals are significant pressures that can
low job satisfaction and poor job performance (Cross
contribute to stress (Can, Hendy, & Karagoz, 2015;
& Ashley, 2004; Sheehan & Van Hasselt, 2003), high
Ortega et al., 2007; Sklansky, 2005). Public
rates of burnout (Berg et al., 2006; Burke &
expectations and their treatment of officers can also
Mikkelsen, 2006; Loo, 2004; Martinussen et al., 2007;
contribute to officer stress, as declines in public
McCarty et al., 2007), and high staff turnover (Adams
respect or regard for officers can lead to feelings of
& Buck, 2010; Smith, Wareham, & Lambert, 2014).
inadequacy or derogation (Antoniou, 2009; Cebulak,
Police practitioners and researchers alike have
2001; Ozanne-Smith & Routley, 2010; Page, 2010;
suggested that police culture itself may contribute to
Sheehan & Van Hasselt, 2003). Finally, friends and
feelings of stress among officers by inhibiting healthy
family often have expectations that officers are unable
coping due to the resulting expectations and social
to meet due to the demands of the job (e.g., inability to
pressures. In this model, police culture places a high
attend family events due to a shift), leading to stress
premium on emotional stability and “mental
about disappointing loved ones (Chhabra & Chhabra,
toughness,” conversely censuring expressions of
2013; Torres, Maggard, & Torres, 2003; Woody,
distress, sadness, or anger (Chhabra & Chhabra, 2013;
2006).
Page, 2010; Smith et al., 2016). With few avenues of
Public confidence in, and support of, the police
expression remaining, studies have found an increase
has decreased as racial tensions over use of force have
in cynicism (Burke & Mikkelsen, 2006; Cebulak,
grown, especially among racial/ethnic minority
2001; Martinussen et al., 2007), social isolation
groups. According to a 2015 Gallup Poll, only roughly
(Sklansky, 2005; Woody, 2006), and a limited ability
one half of Americans (52%) expressed “a great deal”
to connect meaningfully in interpersonal relationships
or “quite a lot” of confidence in the police, the lowest
(Garner, 2008; Ortega et al., 2007).
level in the 22 years that Gallup has polled on that
While there is a robust literature on the stressors
question (Jones, 2015). This has had a detrimental
associated with law enforcement, some deficiencies
impact on law enforcement officers. According to a
need addressing. First, the research does not address
2016 nationally-representative poll by PEW, the
how law enforcement stressors have and continue to
majority of officers report that their jobs have become
change over time as millennials join the workforce.
increasingly difficult and dangerous. PEW found that
Second, the impact of the socio-political context of
between 80% and 90% of officers reported that high
policing has not been explored, and there is reason to
profile incidents between police and African
believe it is becoming an increasingly important
Americans have made policing more challenging and
source of stress.
dangerous, with a vast majority of officers reporting
that interactions between African Americans and the
police have become increasingly tense. This has Method
resulted in law enforcement officers being more
concerned about their own safety (Pew Research We conducted 110 semi-structured interviews
Center, 2017). Nix and Wolfe (2017) similarly found between May and December 2017 with law
that law enforcement officers reported that recent enforcement agencies across the United States for a
negative publicity made their jobs more dangerous and study funded by the National Institute of Justice that
also led them to be less motivated. examined policies and programs to address police

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 CONTEMPORARY POLICE STRESS 39

suicide. Our sampling approach was derived from an interview. The head of the agency to whom we had
situational analysis (Clarke, 2005) and employed sent our materials referred us to the employee who was
maximum variation sampling – not with the goal of most involved with department wellness matters (e.g.,
obtaining representativeness for generalizability psychological services divisions, human resources
purposes. In this process, sampling is done iteratively offices, directors of peer support programs and
to maximize the heterogeneity with respect to relevant individuals charged with workforce health and
themes or characteristics that evolve during the wellness initiatives). We also engaged in follow up
interview process. In this case, we attempted to with non-responders; repeated calls were made and
maximize the variation around how the department email messages were sent to try to obtain an interview
approached officer health and wellness and the with every sampled agency. We could not identify any
programs, policies, and specific services they offer to trends in the refusals, other than departments with
promote resilience. fewer than 10 officers were less likely to respond.
In total, we invited 177 agencies to participate in
Sample
our interviews, and 110 completed an interview. Our
The five sampling waves were constructed using respondents were each identified as the person in the
two techniques: purposive convenience sampling, department with the most knowledge about officer
starting with nine agencies where project team wellness. This person varied by department. A little
members had established relationships, and stratified over one-third of the interviewees were chief-level
random sampling of eight agencies within four executives, including police chiefs and assistant
geographic regions using the Census of State and chiefs, and sheriffs and undersheriffs of smaller
Local Law Enforcement Agencies. The second sample agencies (36%); another third were commissioned law
wave included seven agencies that were mentioned by enforcement officers who were in charge of
interviewees during the first round of interviews as wellness/peer support/critical incident response within
collaborators or model programs, and an additional 25 their departments (12% captains, 15% lieutenant, 6%
were randomly selected from the CSLLEA. In Wave officers); 20% represented a direct service provider
3, we selected 36 agencies with four from each of the such as a psychologist or civilian peer support
nine rural designation areas; we also contacted three coordinator); and we do not have information on the
additional agencies we learned about during earlier specific job position on the remaining 11%. We
interviews. In Wave 4, we selected representatives interviewed agencies representing 30 states across all
from state police agencies in the ten states with, as of geographic regions of the United States in a range of
2015, the highest overall suicide rates and sought urban (81% of our local police departments were from
interviews with the 25 agencies with the largest urban areas vs. 74% of the overall US sampling frame)
number of full time sworn officers with full arrest and rural areas (with almost all our primary state
powers that we had not already interviewed. department having jurisdictions that include very rural
Invitations for the fifth and final wave of interviews areas). The Sheriffs’ Offices were a mix of urban and
were sent to the 30 sheriff departments with the largest rural, with half from counties with dense urban centers
jail populations, based on the Census of Jail Facilities, and the other half located in more rural areas. The total
2006. response rate was 62% (response rate by wave = 71%,
Outreach began with a letter sent by Federal 43%, 51%, 89%, 53%, respectively). While we cannot
Express to the agency director or chief, including a one make claims about generalizability, the agencies we
page project description and a list of topics to be interviewed cover the range of many of the relevant
included in the one hour interview we were requesting characteristics we maximized for the population of
with the individual most informed about the state and local law enforcement agencies (see Table 2
department’s workforce wellness concerns and for a small number of comparisons).
initiatives. We placed follow-up phone calls to the
office within four days of the letter arrival to schedule

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40 SAUNDERS, KOTZIAS, & RAMCHAND

Table 2: Selected Characteristics of Final Sample vs. 2013 Law Enforcement

Management and Administrative Statistics (LEMAS)

Local Police Department Sherriff Office Primary State Department

Our Sample: n=57 Our Sample: n=31 Our Sample: n=22
2013 LEMAS: n=1540* 2013 LEMAS: n=602* 2013 LEMAS: n=50*
Operating Budget
Our Sample Range 298,919 – 1,323,114,147 700,000 – 729,888,190 23,000,000 – 18,000,000
LEMAS Range 650,000 – 4,612,690,000 575,5000- 2,806,127,000 14,197,000 – 1,902,730,000
Our Sample Median 70,100,000 128,158,629 18,819,295
LEMAS Median 8,000,000 10,778,600 139,536,200
FT Sworn Officers
Our Sample Range 3 – 36,023 10-9,461 204 – 7202
LEMAS Range 11 – 34,454 11 – 9,266 143 - 7234
Our Sample Median 610 524 1,235
LEMAS Median 57 72 707
FT Civilians
Our Sample Range 0 – 13,903 2 – 7,141 35 – 4.583
LEMAS Range 0 – 14,635 0 – 7,692 35 – 5,039
Our Sample Median 176 867 674
LEMAS Median 13 47 441
* We limited the sample to departments with more than 10 full time sworn officers.

Interview and Coding codebook. The coders completed this iterative coding
exercise three times, at which point no additional data
The interviews were conducted over the phone by
were identified as outliers to the coding scheme. All
one of the research team and lasted between 45 and 90
transcripts were uploaded into Dedoose, an online
minutes. The interview protocol was developed to
qualitative analysis program that enables collaborative
facilitate a semi-structured conversation and covered
and team-based coding. Because some interview
multiple domains with various prompts. Topics
content could relate to more than one topic or theme,
included police officer stressors, programs and
coders were instructed to apply more than one code, if
policies in place to promote officer mental health,
relevant, to a given excerpt so that content could be
access to care and education, and organizational
analyzed across codes. Coders met weekly to discuss
structure and support for officer mental health and
their progress and questions about code application;
wellness. Our goal in this analysis was to identify the
areas of disagreement were resolved via consensus.
current stressors facing sworn law enforcement
officers. Thus, we analyzed the responses to the Analysis
following open-ended questions: (1) What kind of
For this analysis, we used a total of 571 coded
things do officers/deputies talk about as stressful? (2)
statements: 338 coded statements by 110 interviewees
Have there been any changes in what is discussed
referred to stressors faced by law enforcement agents
among officers as stressful in the past couple of years?
in the field, 125 statements from 77 respondents that
(3) If an officer wanted to go seek mental health care,
described changes in stressors over time (which may
would s(he) feel comfortable doing so? Why or why
or may not line up with what they reported when they
not?
described “current stressors”), and 108 statements
To support content categorization and streamline
from 67 interviewees that described the stigma (or lack
analysis, transcript content was coded descriptively
of) associated with mental health treatment seeking
and thematically using a standardized codebook. The
behavior. We examined the data in two ways. First, we
codebook was developed in two phases: (1) The team
described the current stressors by types as identified in
used a theory-based approach to codebook design by
the previous literature (i.e., operational,
organizing a hierarchical list of topics, subtopics, and
organizational, personal, and socio-political) and
concepts drawn from the research questions and
described the themes that emerged within each
interview guide, and (2) the team applied a grounded-
category. Second, we examined whether there were
theory based approach; three coders coded up to five
differences in stressors, changes in stressors, or stigma
transcripts each, identified content that was not
associated with mental health treatment, over time. We
reflected in the theory-based scheme, and revised the

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 CONTEMPORARY POLICE STRESS 41

also conducted several sensitivity analyses of the stressors including administrative burden, pressure
modal themes by department type (local law from supervisors, and shift work, while the (somewhat
enforcement, sheriff department, or state and federal related) personal stressors contained family and
law enforcement), department size (fewer than 20, 21- relationship challenges along with financial
50, 51-100, 101-500, or over 500 full time sworn difficulties. Finally, the socio-political context of law
officers), and respondent type (chief-level executive, enforcement work, including local police/community
commissioned officer, or direct service provider). relations and the media portrayal of police were the
There were no differences in the modal themes least discussed type of stressor.
between any of these categories; thus, we only present
the modal themes for the entire sample. 0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8

Methodological Limitations Operational 0.75

Our study approach has several limitations.
Organizational 0.6
Although we obtained a diverse sample with respect to
the range of mental health and wellness services
Personal 0.52
offered to police officers, it was not meant to be
generalizable to the entire population of agencies. We
also did not ask interviewees to rank various stressors, Socio-Political 0.42
so our results and discussion focus on what they
prioritized in our conversations with respect to how
much they discussed various issues, which may not Figure 1: Proportion of Interviewees who Discussed
represent either the frequency or severity of various Different Types of Stressors
stressors. We also asked interviewees to report on
changes, which may be subject to recall bias. And Operational stressors. These included
finally, while we specifically targeted those who comments about the stress that comes from responding
would have the most information about officer stress to potentially dangerous calls for service (which can
and wellness, the departments ultimately determined involve domestic violence and/or weapons),
who would participate in the interview. investigating criminal incidents, assisting and/or
questioning community members, dealing with traffic
Results accidents, using detention powers, along with other
possibly unsafe activities (see Table 3). We were told
Current Stressors that law enforcement officers must remain prepared to
face a wide range of potentially traumatic events with
The most frequently discussed stressors fell into no notice, and over their career, this vigilance and
the operational category, which included stressors incremental exposure can be very detrimental. In
such as critical and traumatic incidents and events, addition to being exposed to such traumatic events,
responding to and enforcing traffic violations and participants discussed the institutional barriers to
accidents, responding to calls for service, and other healthy coping, including a lack of time to process and
law enforcement-specific duties (see Figure 1). The recover from a situation and the fear of appearing
next two common types of stressor discussed were weak or reporting mental health issues that could
organizational and personal in nature: organizational negatively impact their jobs.

Table 3: Current Operational Officer Stressor Discussed by Interview

Stressor Thematic Description

Responding to crime The routine stress felt from routine police work, such as responding to calls for service,
n=65 investigating complaints, and patrolling
Exposure to trauma Exposure to traumatic circumstances such as securing crime scenes with dead bodies,
n=32 interviewing child victims of sexual violence, dealing with domestic violence survivors,
traffic accidents and mass fatalities, and active shooter situations
Violence against Reports of police ambushes and other violence against the police were described as
police creating an atmosphere of fear and the perception that officers and their families must
n=10 remain suspicious of the community and constantly vigilant

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42 SAUNDERS, KOTZIAS, & RAMCHAND

This quote illustrates the category: amplified (or at least their impact is) because of the
intensity of the job. Shift work, long hours, and
I have troopers respond to a call when someone is unpredictable schedules were frequently discussed as
trapped in a burning car, burning to death, and major organizational stressors. Sleep deprivation as a
there’s not much you can do, [the trooper] can’t result of these scheduling realities was also a great
get the person out of the car. That’s distressing. cause of concern expressed by interviewees, as it
That’s extreme. What I’ve learned is depending causes both significant cognitive and motor
on the person, we all find different things to be impairments, and has an even more destructive effect
distressing, children being injured or killed is on mood (Pilcher & Huffcutt, 1996). As one
disturbing for most. People suffering and not respondent described the problem, “workload, the
much to do. schedule itself. We’re the only agency that allows to
do double-back (3 pm to 11 pm, then 7 am to 3 pm)
Organizational stressors. This next group were shifts. With those schedules, you’re sleeping 5-6 hours
the second most discussed, which included pressure at best.” Additionally, the politics of law enforcement
from management, administrative duties, and the add an additional layer of stress due to the expectation
nature of shift work (see Table 4). As one interviewee that police and other government actors must be
put it, “the number one stressor is the paperwork infallible. These concerns echo earlier work on officer
itself.” These were described as similar in nature to job stress, but some report that they are, in fact, getting
frustrations and stressors experienced in other worse.
professions, but interviewees reported that the stress is

Table 4: Current Organizational Officer Stressors Discussed by Interview

Stressor Thematic Description

Overtime and long Shift work, unpredictable schedules, mandatory overtime, and overnight shits were
hours discussed as generating a great deal of stress that impacted both the officer’s personal
n=38 lives, mood, and cognitive and motor functions
Pressure from Pressures from management, including to be more efficient, work more, and be more
management accountable, along with the hierarchical structure and politics of the organization
n=26
Administrative duties The administrative burden of law enforcement includes paperwork, multiple
n=20 information systems, lengthy reports with copious entry fields, and other time-
consuming, detail-oriented reporting requirements

As on one respondent reported, on the job. This theme included statements about
schedules that barred a healthy work-life balance,
In the last 15 years, even what used to be a routine limited time for the family to spend together, issues
report to take has now been overcomplicated to a with spouses and children, and the feeling that officers
point you can’t just go to a call and document a are expected to prioritize their jobs over family. The
short report. There’s 25 things on a checklist you schedule challenge inherent in law enforcement was
have to go to. reported to be a huge source of these problems, with
officers missing important family and life events,
Personal Stressors. This theme described the causing alienation from their spouses and children,
strain that the job places on officers’ personal and along with other associated complications. This
family lives and was the third most mentioned stress problem was described as one of “work life balance
category (see Table 5). Many interviewees brought up from overtime and shift work, and then going home
family problems that were either caused by the job and shifting gears to kids and wife after such a
directly or perceived to be associated with the job, negative environment” and “missing important family
such as alcohol use, high divorce rates, financial strain, events due to scheduling.”
challenging and unpredictable childcare needs, and
inability to socialize because they always feel they are

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 CONTEMPORARY POLICE STRESS 43

Table 5: Current Personal Officer Stressors

Stressor Thematic Description

Family and home life How the job leads to stress in their personal lives including time away from their
n=56 families, problems in their marriages, challenges with childcare, inability to disengage
from work, and alcohol misuse
Financial strain The low salary for law enforcement officers was described as a source of stress, and
n=27 particularly insufficient in areas with higher costs of living

Socio-political stressors. The next grouping was members,” and “there is a nationwide climate, with
derived from the social and environmental context of attacks on police, which has left us with feelings of
policing and was discussed quite frequently as well hurt that people don’t trust us,” typify this type of
with comments about relationships with the stressor. Another subtheme was the increased scrutiny
community and negative media attention (see Table of their actions by the media, which was also reported
6). Most of these statements expressed the challenges to cause stress among officers, particularly the
with police-community relations and a perceived lack dominant presentation that the police are not using
of support from the public, making policing more their authority appropriately. Per one interviewee, “the
difficult. Comments such as “officers feel like they trend of anti-law enforcement support as far as the
aren’t very supported by their communities,” officers negative image through social media outlets and media
“don’t get a lot of respect from local community in general” is a source of great stress for his officers.

Table 6. Current Socio-Political Officer Stressors by Interview Frequency

Stressor Thematic Description

Negative media The negative portrayal of police by the media. Additionally, social media and the 24-hr
portrayal news cycle were described as amplifying this negative portrayal.
n=31
Police-community The relationship between the police and their community, including frequent displays
relations of disrespect and uncooperative communities
n=23

being scrutinized and that they are being set up for

Recent Change in Stressors
failure by the media. An increase in negative media
The majority of comments about how law portrayal of the police since the protests in Ferguson,
enforcement stressors have changed in recent years MO, was frequently mentioned as a turning point in
revolved around negative media and relationships with the media narrative, and four interrelated subthemes
the community, followed by the changing nature of emerged.
police work, officer-involved shootings, exposure to The first subtheme, strained police-community
acute trauma, and pressure from management. There relations, often attributed to the Black Lives Matter
were very few mentions of the changing nature or movement, which is perceived to have caused (unfair)
intensity of stress related to overtime or shift work, negative publicity that has been generalized to all
financial issues, home or personal matters, or police and makes them targets for violence (n=35
administrative duties. When respondents were asked interviews described increasingly strained
about how stressors changed, they focused much more relationships related to perceived increases in
heavily on changes in the socio-political context than excessive use of force and/or racially-biased actions,
in changes in the actual day-to-day job with 16 of those interviews mentioning the Black
responsibilities, as seen in Figure 2. Lives Matter movement by name as the source).
These comments described a new age (or return to Typical comments were, “the new stress is the Black
an older age) of policing where community mistrust Lives Matter; we had a demonstration in town.
and conflict create several challenges for law Officers are frustrated because they don’t feel like they
enforcement officers: charges of widespread racial treat anyone badly based on race,” and “they [the
bias and excessive use of force against minorities, a officers] talk about what’s going on in the nation,
perceived lack of safety and feeling that they may be Black Lives Matter, and people not having any
subject to violence, and a belief that every action is concern about law enforcement officers’ lives, people

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44 SAUNDERS, KOTZIAS, & RAMCHAND

running their mouths.” Another interviewee “[We are] under a greater microscope due to phones,
expressed, “the Black Lives Movement, that’s the social media, and technology. Most civilians don’t
stressful thing right now. Guys on road are worried want to see what law enforcement sees and now [get]
about ambush, [so we] get more than one officer on upset as they are seeing it.” Other respondents echoed
the scene, pay more attention to the alarm call.” this concern and noted that, “You’re always watched,
[with] that constant awareness that someone could be
recording you,” and “now, when officers are on patrol
they can be filmed by the public and are concerned
Socio-Political 0.53
about media exposure.”
Interestingly, while they reported these socio-
Operational 0.23
political stressors as affecting policing in general and
weighing heavily on their officers’ minds, many
Organizational 0.1 interviewees reported that none of these problems
were specifically present in their communities.
Personal 0.05 According to one interviewee,
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 in past 6 months to a year, with Black Lives
Matter, there is increased worry about [the]
Figure 2: Proportion of Interviewees who Discussed general view of community towards law
Change in Different Types of Stressors enforcement; in the whole agency – they see so
much on TV – and all cops get lumped together.
The second subtheme was increased media
scrutiny of every police action, which places an A large proportion of respondents reported that
unattainably high expectation on officer actions while police-community relations are strained at the
(n=40). Interviewees reported that law enforcement national level, which hurts their morale, they enjoyed
must now worry about how their actions will appear good relationships with their local communities:
on camera that will inevitably be dissected after the
fact by lay people without the understanding or A current trend is societal ideas of law
training to draw informed conclusions. Interestingly, enforcement oppression. We’re here to oppress.
many respondents emphasized how this increased We’re not here to help…. The media leads you to
attention on their work made officers more likely to believe there’s not a lot of support [for the police],
“second guess themselves… even though they are but in the community, there’s a lot of support. The
doing the tactics the way they are trained, [they are] community shows a lot of support, but if you put
getting scrutinized.” Two phenomena were described on the TV, there is lots of negative portrayal.
as being responsible for this – the 24-hour news cycle
and the social media. In at least one community, the interviewee
The 24-hour news cycle and partisan reporting reported that the negative publicity brought the police
creating an appetite for polarizing stories about law and community closer: “90% [of the community
enforcement was another subtheme that emerged. members] are happy to have the police department and
According to the interviewees, the need for constant are supportive. When there was a lot of bashing of the
content leads to newscasters having to fill airtime with police, we are getting coffee cakes and supportive
opinions, speculation, and unsubstantiated letters. It has strengthened our community.” However,
conclusions about police actions without proper in another location even where community relations
investigation or vetting: “We talk about good shots were reported to be strong, the national media
bad shots and the media’s going to report on the broad coverage was reported to cause a great deal of damage,
spectrum; I mean I have to be cognizant of that “deputies are focused on pressures, feeling from what
ideology of news reporting.” According to another is perceived as a lack of support from the public based
participant, “stress that staff endure today is much on what they’re seeing on the TV every day. The
greater than 15 years ago because of the 24/7 news reality is the support we’ve seen from community is
cycle, the intense scrutiny involved in any significant tremendous.”
altercation, and the fear and hate mongering media.” Respondents also mentioned that increased
And finally, interviewees reported that social workloads, officer shortages, and new criminal threats
media and the ubiquity of personal videotaping are producing more stress than in the past.
capabilities create an atmosphere where every police Specifically, dealing with cybercrime, terrorism,
action can be reviewed out of context with the active shooters, drug epidemics, and mentally ill
potential to become a viral news story. For instance, community members were all described as newer

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 CONTEMPORARY POLICE STRESS 45

challenges that are causing increased stress in officers: [command staff] being around and knowing that
“There is a new fear of cybercrime and terrorism – peer support will show up and do what we do.
changes in society and criminal behavior. We are more Initially it was a battle to be accepted, now since
responsible for the vulnerability of others in general – a lot has become … not a matter of being macho.
this is new.” Increased reporting duties, administrative It’s taken away [the sigma].
oversight, and requirements from prosecutors’ officers
were also cited as contributing to the stress profile in a While the majority of interviewees believe that
different way in the past several years, although these the stigma is decreasing and the culture is becoming
were discussed much less often than the socio-political more accepting, there were also many who reported
challenges described above: “Much more stressful that they still have a long way to go to get to a place
than 20 years ago when I started. There is more where they believe it should be. As one interviewee
civilian oversight, more paperwork, more demands put in, “We’re better than we were a year ago, but still
from prosecutors.” have work ahead. There is still distrust and
Finally, interviewees also detailed how law discomfort.”
enforcement officers cope with stressors and how
recent changes in policing culture and generational Discussion and Conclusion
shifts in the workforce have altered some of the factors
that impact coping (n=68 interviews). The vast Our interviewees echo many of the findings of
majority of interviewees reported a change in policing earlier research on police stress, finding similar
culture that is becoming more supportive of officers themes in operational, organizational, and socio-
when they experience stress and putting up fewer political stressors. Our study also highlights three new
barriers to accessing care. Over 85% of the individual themes in how stress is changing due to (1) the current
statements described a reduction in the stigma socio-political environment, (2) generational shifts in
associated with mental health care within the last few the workforce, and (3) recent efforts to destigmatize
years, with only 15% describing it as reaming the mental health care treatment. Our study participants
same. Notably, not one statement indicated that the also consistently reiterated the message from the
problem was getting worse. Much of this change is Presidential Task Force on 21st Century Policing
attributed to a generational shift in the workforce and (2015):
deliberate efforts from command staff:
The ‘bulletproof cop’ does not exist. The officers
The newer officers that are coming into the who protect us must also be protected—against
department have no problem sharing the fact that incapacitating physical, mental, and emotional
they’re seeking treatment for mental health- health problems as well as against the hazards of
related issues or going to counseling. Some of the their job. Their wellness and safety are crucial for
older officers are more skeptical. them, their colleagues, and their agencies, as well
as the well-being of the communities they serve.
Particularly over the past 5-8 years, the approach (p. 62)
has changed significantly. It used to be the
mentality of suck it up, do your job, you need to Respondents reported that officers face many
be tough. Now it’s shifted more toward you [still] types of stressors that fall into the categories of
have to be tough, but want to make sure that you operational, organizational, personal, and socio-
have the resources you need to go through it. Our political. The most frequently cited operational
stance is someone in our department has probably stressors involved day-to-day enforcement activities
been through what you’re going through, so if you that put officers in potentially unsafe situations
let us know what’s going on, we don’t need to including responding to routine calls for service and
know the details, but let us know so we can get enforcing traffic violations and responding to the less
you help. frequent critical and traumatic incidents and events. In
the organizational category, administrative burden,
What has contributed to lessening the stigma? pressure from supervisors, and shift work were
Making some things mandatory. “You just went described as large sources of stress. Family,
through this incident, you have to go to EAP.” relationship, and financial challenges were reported as
This is not a choice, you go. And that way, the being personal stressors. The current state of police
other people can’t say “he’s weak, he talked to a community relations and negative portrayal of the
shrink,” because he had no choice. From there, police by the media were also described as being a
“oh, this wasn’t too bad.” And a lot of them significant source of stress in policing. Except for the
continue their visits with counselors. And us particular socio-political stressors resulting from

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46 SAUNDERS, KOTZIAS, & RAMCHAND

recent conflicts between the police and community, – the perceived lack of support from the community
these have all been identified and discussed at length (with specific references to the Black Lives Matter
in the previous literature on police stress. movement), increased media scrutiny, the 24-hour
The current socio-political environment was news cycle, and social media:
discussed at great length by participants. While [I’ve] been a police officer for 20 years. In the
previous research had identified this as being a source past, the people that didn’t like us were people
of stress for officers, it has not received the same doing wrong. The anti-cop sentiment wasn’t that
amount of scrutiny as other factors. Respondents bad. There was some animosity prior to 9/11,
described this as a new stress and attributed it to a when it got better, but it’s turned really bad in the
several causes. First, they reported that the strained past 2 or 3 years. Social media is the biggest issue
police-community relationships that have been that we face. People will hang you in the court of
highlighted in the national news make it appear that all public opinion before all the facts are in.
communities distrust their local police forces. While
respondents consistently cited these national news This was discussed as having a negative impact
media stories as causing friction between the police on officer stress and perhaps causing hesitation in the
and the communities at large, they often offered the field, which put officers at greater risk of injury, but
caveat that their local departments maintain good its impact on officer decision-making or safety has not
relationships with the communities they serve. They been explored:
most frequently associated the negative sentiment
between police and the community with the Black Primarily it is the negative attitude toward
Lives Matter movement. Second, they reported that policing that is prevalent in media and federal
the “over scrutiny” of police actions by the media sets government. Everyone feels under scrutiny and
up impossibly high standards, leading police to second [our] biggest concern is that someone will hesitate
guess their enforcement actions. The respondents because of this pressure when he should be
reported that even when police faultlessly follow keeping himself safe.
procedures they are still blamed for negative outcomes
and fear being publicly scapegoated, even if they are Our study also points out that generational shifts
eventually exonerated by the courts. The fear of in the workforce should not be overlooked when
ending up being publicly criticized has been reported examining the epidemiology of work-related stress.
to cause hesitation and the reluctance to follow use of Much of the research on police stress has examined
force guidelines that may put officer lives at risk. officers from previous generations, yet there may be
Third, the 24-hour news cycle and cable news something different about the new generation of
channels, which must fill more air time with recruits’ perspectives on mental health. Research into
speculation, exacerbates the negative perception of the mental health and stress profile of the younger
officers, according to interviewees. They stated that workforce does reinforce the need to study this group
content must be lengthened and so called “experts” are separately, as they have been identified as having
brought on the shows to theorize and debate prior to different strengths and needs from prior generations of
evidence being collected and analyzed. This spreads workers (Bland, Melton, Welle, & Bigham, 2012;
misinformation and further sensationalizes conflict, Espinoza & Ukleja, 2016; Hershatter & Epstein,
leading police to feel defensive and unappreciated. 2010). In the words of one interviewee:
Fourth, interviewees reported the increase in social
media and personal videorecorders that have the The work is much more stressful than when I
potential to turn each interaction into a viral new story. started 20 years ago, there is more civilian
Participants reported that having community members oversight, more paperwork, more demands
recording interactions and sharing them creates a from prosecutors. I wonder about the younger
heightened stressful atmosphere, causing officers to be generations – they are highly educated and
concerned about how they will appear on film that can have life experiences, which makes me think
be edited unfavorably. that their expectations for themselves and
These developments in the socio-political context their resilience may be higher than a
in which police officers work has been assessed generation ago.
empirically as well. Two recent studies confirm that
the majority of police officers report that high profile The interviews did not specifically tease out
incidents between the African American community the differences in stressors by generation, but it
and the police have made the job more difficult and naturally came up in conversations. The majority
dangerous (Nix & Wolfe, 2017; Pew Research Center, of these mentions were with respect to newer
2017). Our study identified four subthemes in this area officers being more open with their feelings and

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 CONTEMPORARY POLICE STRESS 47

receptive to mental health care. They noted that The overall message of our interviews was mixed
the culture is changing, both due to a deliberate – the current state of the socio-political climate is
effort by management and generational shifts in generating an increase in fear and stress in police
attitudes toward work and mental health. officers. The national narrative has impacted police
Efforts to destigmatize mental health care officers at the local level, even when their department
and encouraging overall wellness within the reports having a good relationship with the
policing profession were discussed at length in the community. There is no sign that this trend is
interviews, with the majority of interviewees changing, and its impact on officer wellness, decision-
responding that the culture within their making, and retention has not been empirically
department was becoming more open and assessed. There is also an urgent and recognized need
supportive of their officers. Other scholarly work in the field to improve officer wellness through
highlights the strategies currently in place to multiple mechanisms. This message is permeating
promote officer wellness, including group departments while many professional groups and
debriefings or check ins after critical incidents government programs are taking up the cause, as
and/or other traumatic events, peer support evidenced by the safety and wellness initiatives from
programs, and hiring psychologists or other both the US Department of Justice and other
mental health professionals into the department to professional associations (Bureau of Justice
provide services (Anshel et al., 2013; Arnetz, Assistance, 2017; Community Oriented Policing
Nevedal, Lumley, Backman, & Lublin, 2009; Services, 2017; International Association of Chiefs of
Church & Robertson, 1999; Dowling, Moynihan, Police, 2017). Similarly, many non-profit
Genet, & Lewis, 2006; Ramchand et al., 2018). organizations are also specifically serving the law
Respondents described a change in culture enforcement community.
that is promoting healthy coping with stressors, Unfortunately, research offers little empirical
and destigmatizing mental health care is a move guidance for police departments looking to address
in the direction recommended by the Presidential stress in their department; however, there is a great
Task Force on 21st Century Policing. In May deal of research conducted in other settings. Other
2015, the Task Force asserted that overall industries have found that organizational approaches
wellness is paramount to sound decision making to stress mitigation are more effective when coupled
and that poor physical or psychological health with individual-level interventions, which equip
create a danger to the community. They also people with the knowledge, skills, and resources to
concluded that cope with stressful conditions (Noblet & LaMontagne,
2006; Tetrick & Winslow, 2015). Relaxation and
the most important factor to consider when Mindfulness have been found to reduce stress levels in
discussing wellness and safety is the culture healthy people (Chiesa & Serretti, 2009; Van der
of law enforcement, which needs to be Klink, Blonk, Schene, & Van Dijk, 2001). It also
transformed. Support for wellness and safety impacts other aspects of resiliency including reduced
should permeate all practices and be ruminative thinking, decreased anxiety, increased
expressed through changes in procedures, empathy, and self-compassion. For example,
requirements, attitudes, and behaviors. An employees are taught to become aware of negative
agency work environment in which officers thoughts or irrational beliefs and to substitute positive
do not feel they are respected, supported, or or rational ideas (Bellarosa & Chen, 1997).
treated fairly is one of the most common Meditation, relaxation, and deep-breathing
sources of stress. (President's Task Force on interventions are designed to enable employees to
21st Century Policing, 2015, p. 62) reduce adverse reactions to stresses by bringing about
a physical and/or mental state that is the physiological
Our interviews suggest that policing professionals opposite of stress. These interventions that are based
are taking this mandate seriously. While we cannot in cognitive behavioral techniques are considered to be
make generalizations about the close to 18,000 the most effective, although training in meditation,
different law enforcement agencies in the US from our relaxation, and biofeedback are also used (Chiesa &
sample (Banks, Hendrix, Hickman, & Kyckelhahn, Serretti, 2009).
2016), it was clear that the majority of departments we Within law enforcement and other first responder
spoke to reported that the department was intentionally populations, special consideration must also be given
trying to change the culture to become more accepting to the suite of approaches that fall under the umbrella
of seeking help for mental health concerns, with 85% of “Critical Incident Management Stress
of the comments reflecting less stigma. Management,” which can include debriefings after a
particularly traumatic event to process the event and

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48 SAUNDERS, KOTZIAS, & RAMCHAND

reflect on its impact. One of the most highly regarded Antoniou, A. S. (2009). Occupation-specific
studies on psychological debriefing found that it may, precursors of stress among Greek police officers:
paradoxically, increase psychological distress (Rose, the roles of rank and gender. International
Bisson, Churchill, & Wessely, 2002). There have been Journal of Police Science & Management, 11(3),
several studies on this topic, and the results are 334–344.
contradictory, with some findings positive outcomes
Arnetz, B. B., Nevedal, D. C., Lumley, M. A.,
particularly with first responders (Bledsoe, 2003;
Backman, L., & Lublin, A. (2009). Trauma
Garner, 2008; Tuckey & Scott, 2014). Departments
resilience training for police:
significantly differ in what types of events require a
Psychophysiological and performance effects.
CISM, who should attend, how long it will be, if it
Journal of Police and criminal Psychology, 24(1),
includes mental health professionals, and what is
1–9.
included. At this time, CISM is still considered to be a
best practice in law enforcement, but its actual Banks, D., Hendrix, J., Hickman, M., & Kyckelhahn,
implementation varies widely across departments. T. (2016). National sources of law enforcement
According to Ramchand and colleagues (2018), employment data (NCJ 249681). Retrieved from
departments offer a wide range of services to promote United States Bureau of Justice Statistics website:
coping with stressors including basic mental health https://www.bjs.gov/content/pub/pdf/nsleed.pdf
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and stress reduction training. Some departments also and practicality of occupational stress
offer more proactive services including processes for management interventions: A survey of subject
proactively identifying people at risk, in-house mental matter expert opinions. Journal of Occupational
health care, embedded chaplains within the workforce, Health Psychology, 2(3), 247–262.
substance abuse services for law enforcement, peer Berg, A. M., Hem, E., Lau, B., & Ekeberg, Ø. (2006).
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health promotion integrated into day-to-day Norwegian police service: a cross sectional study.
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52 SAUNDERS, KOTZIAS, & RAMCHAND

About the Authors Rajeev Ramchand, PhD is Senior Vice President of

Research at the Cohen Veterans Network and an
Jessica Saunders, PhD is an Adjunct Criminologist Adjunct Researcher with RAND Corporation. He
with RAND Corporation. Her research interests studies the prevalence, prevention, and treatment
include evidence-based policing, police- of mental health and substance use disorders in
community relations, evidence-based corrections, adolescents, service members and veterans, and
prisoner education, quantitative methods, and minority populations. He has conducted many
policy evaluation. She has worked with dozens of studies on suicide and suicide prevention
US and international law enforcement agencies. including environmental scans of suicide
Dr. Saunders has extensive experience in policy prevention programs, epidemiologic studies on
evaluation, using both qualitative and quantitative risk factors for suicide, evaluations of suicide
methods spanning across evaluations of focused prevention programs, and has developed tools to
deterrence, community crime reduction, jail- help organizations to evaluate their own
based re-entry programs, community-policing programs. Other current areas of research include
initiatives, predictive policing, problem-solving the role of firearm availability, storage, and
policing, drug courts, community-based gang policies on suicide, the impact of disasters on
intervention and youth violence programs, and community health, and violent extremism. His
school-based preventive interventions. Her contact information is ramchand@rand.org, (703)
contact information is jsaunder@rand.org, (310) 413-1100, 1200 South Hayes Street, Arlington,
393-0411, 1776 Main Street, Santa Monica, CA VA 22202.
90407.

Virginia Kotzias, M.P.P. M.P.P. is a Policy Analyst

with RAND Corporation. Ms. Kotzias has subject
matter expertise in stakeholder engagement,
healthcare delivery design and evaluation, and
qualitative data collection and analysis. Her
research focus includes suicide prevention and
wellness promotion among veterans, law
enforcement, and vulnerable and at-risk
populations. She has contributed to several
studies exploring patient experiences in the
mental and medical healthcare systems, with a
special interest in cultural and systemic barriers to
accessing care. Her contact information is
vkotzias@rand.org, (703) 413-1100, 1200 South
Hayes Street, Arlington, VA 22202.

Criminology, Criminal Justice, Law & Society – Volume 20, Issue 1