NCJ Number
161289
Journal
FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin Volume: 65 Issue: 5 Dated: (May 1996) Pages: 7-10
Date Published
1996
Length
4 pages
Annotation
Police commanders must cope with stressors similar to those faced by their private industry counterparts, but an important difference is that police commanders must also respond to death scenes, family disturbances, and accidents in which people have been seriously injured or killed.
Abstract
Stress affects the performance of individual commanders and consequently the performance of the police department as a whole. Police executives and municipal authorities should learn about causes and consequences of stress and take steps to reduce the influence and effects of police occupational stress. While a limited amount of stress can have positive results, certain stressors inhibit performance and cause health problems. Stress occurs in three stages in the human body: alarm reaction, resistance, and exhaustion. The alarm reaction produces physiological changes, prolonged exposure to stressful situations eventually causes the resistance stage to set in, and exhaustion overcomes an individual's coping mechanisms when the resistance stage persists. Much of the stress experienced by police commanders stems from their location in the police department's hierarchy. Four basic steps can be taken to alleviate stress: (1) assess what causes stress; (2) plan solutions to minimize specific stress factors; (3) take action on identified solutions; and (4) follow through to determine if stress levels have declined. 9 endnotes and 1 photograph