If you
don’t have any friends or family in the law enforcement profession you may not
be aware of the burden and stress that police work can sometimes bring upon an
officer. Every year there is more research done on the effects that police work
can bring upon an individual, and thus help in the form of counseling. Police officers can often find it difficult
to come home from a tough day at work and tell friends and family about their
day because the officer thinks people will either not understand or out of fear
of possibly contaminating the non-police family life. After prolonged exposure
to harsh conditions as work (depressing, negative situations) an officer can
suffer from what is termed “compassion fatigue”. When an officer is suffering
from this they can often seem distant to those closest to them. There is a term
call “Kevlar skin” that refers to an officer suppressing his/her emotions and
thoughts possibly because of the aforementioned reasons. Research has also indicated that police
officers can also start to suffer over time to adrenaline spikes due to the
nature of their duty. Effects can be physical, emotional and psychological
which makes counseling services all the more legitimate and important.
Officers are human beings after all, and human beings can
falter even if they are professionals in their field. If the right kind of
counseling is not available to them, events like the video below can occur.
Think of all the times you’ve heard stories of police brutality. Can you think
of why that would happen? Inept cops? Racism? Sexism? Stress? How many of those
instances could have been avoided with proper treatment of and officer who needed
help? When a police officer snaps like this, it is a mar on the image of the
entire police department. It is something that needs to be addressed and held
at the forefront in every police department.
Some police departments may offer some sort of training on
coping with critical events while on duty but I think it’s time as future
criminal justice professionals to hold it to a higher standard and realize that
this is a serious issue that police officers face and that very few on the
outside understand. Many police departments have been forced to reduce the size
of the police force because their budget has been cut which might also mean
that they cannot afford to provide officers with an organized system of
support. One cost effective and simple method of treatment is called internal
peer counseling teams. Sometimes all an officer needs is someone to talk to;
someone who he/she can relate with in a professional way and who will listen to
them and understand their problems. This form of therapy may very well already
exist unofficially within many departments but I think that the department
should regulate it so that it is more organized, beneficial, and so every
officer who wants to take advantage of it has the opportunity to. There are
many occupations involving great deals of stress such as the military, nursing,
even teaching, but as criminal justice students we must focus our attention on
the causes and cures of the stress and burdens related to police work in order
to keep the profession moving along an upward and positive track.
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