Budget & Stress for Police Officers

Week 6 Lesson

“Honor never grows old, and honor rejoices the heart of age. It does so because honor is, finally, about defending those noble and worthy things that deserve defending, even if it comes at a high cost. In our time, that may mean social disapproval, public scorn, hardship, persecution, or as always, even death itself. The question remains: What is worth defending? What is worth dying for?  What is worth living for?”...William J. Bennett, United States Naval Academy, November 24, 1997.

Law enforcement officers (LEOs) have identified the killing of someone in the line of duty as the most stressful incident they could experience. LEO shootings may be rated high due to psychological trauma associated with such incidents. The effects include a perceptual distortion during the incident, a heightened sense of danger after the event, anger, flashbacks, isolation, emotional numbing, sleep difficulties and depression (Artwhohl, 1999; Goleman. 1989; Russell, 1991.). Incidents occur in which LEOs leave the profession of law enforcement after shootings or killings because they are unable to deal with this stress (Violanti & Aron, 1994).

When a LEO is involved in a shooting, the LEO may not immediately exhibit the impacts of the shooting. Days, weeks, or even months after the incident, the LEO may, after reliving the incident over and over in the mind, exhibit the impacts of an abnormal event on a human body (Adams, McTernan & Remsberg, 1989; Cohen, 1980; Goleman, 1989). The human mind may dwell on an unpleasant, emotionally charged event for a long period of time, not just days or weeks, but months or years (Reiser & Geiger, 1984; Russell, 1991.).

The effects of a shooting on LEOs include the following: cynicism and suspiciousness, emotional detachment, post-traumatic stress disorder, heart attacks, ulcers, weight gain, and other health problems, suicide, sexual dysfunction, nightmares, depression, reduced efficiency in performing duties, reduced morale, excessive aggressiveness and an increase in citizen complaints, alcoholism and other substance abuse, marital or other relationship and family problems, absenteeism, and early retirement (Cudmore, 1995; Finn & Tomz, 1997; Goleman, 1989; Hennen, 1999; Solomon, 1988; Tiller, Kyrlos & Bennett, 1995; Turco, 1986; Wong & Ursano, 1997). Stress typically affects the behavior of officers along a continuum that can include underlying stress not yet manifested in outward effects, mid-level stress, manifested in such ways as excessive drinking or an unacceptably high number of discourtesy complaints from citizens and debilitating stress, resulting in inadequate job performance, severe health problems, or suicide (Finn & Tomz, 1997).

Immediately after the shooting, four out of five LEOs involved in a shooting will experience time distortion. Auditory distortions are experienced by approximately two out of three LEOs involved in a shooting. Visual distortions occur in about half of the LEOs involved (Solomon, 1988). These distortions may also be replayed time and time again in the LEO's mind adding to the psychological stressors as the LEOs replay the incident time and time again in their mind.

Solomon (1988) states that after a LEO shooting, about one-third have a mild reaction, one-third have a moderate reaction, and one-third have a severe reaction. Each officer experiences the emotional aftermath of a shooting differently. Predicting a LEO's individual reaction is extremely difficult. Many factors are involved and different from shooting to shooting. Predicting one's behavior based solely on the fact that they were involved in a shooting is not possible (Cohen, 1980).

Stratton, Parker and Snibbe (1984) conducted a survey of sixty (60) LEOs involved in shootings in the Los Angles area. Data suggested some significant demographic and psychological effects on these LEOs. Approximately thirty percent (30%) of the respondents felt that the shooting incident affected them greatly or alot, only thirty three percent (33%) moderately and thirty five percent (35%) not at all. This figures mimic those of Solomon (1988).

Many LEOs who have been in the military and in the position of killing others in combat insist that killing or shooting someone in the course of their police duties is a very different situation. In war, the enemy is trained, equipped and skilled. In war, that is what you are there for - to eradicate the enemy. Law enforcement is different; it is not a search and destroy mission (Cohen, 1980; Tiller, Kyrlos & Bennett, 1996).

The stress and reactions one may go through following a traumatic incident or series of incidents have been documented in combat soldiers as far back as the Civil War. Today a soldier's reactions are titled posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). In previous wars, it was titled "soldiers heart" in the Civil War, "shell shock" in World War I (WWI) and "combat neurosis" or "gross stress reaction" in World War II (WWII) (Russell, C., 1991; Tiller, Kyrlos & Bennett, 1996; Wong & Ursano, 1997). A soldier's reaction may be similar to that of a LEO. Reactions such as the headaches and sleeplessness often are symptoms of combat soldiers diagnosed with PSTD (Gelman, 1988).

Law enforcement officers as well as professionals in other fields, such as social workers, child abuse workers, firefighters, and nurses, may experience what is known as compassion fatigue or acute stress disorder (ASD) (Albrecht, 1999; Cudmore, 1996; Figley, 1995; Koopman, Classen, Cardena & Spiegel, 1995; Symes, 1995). Compassion fatigue is attributed to pain and discomfort experienced as a direct result to another's trauma. Law enforcement officers may suffer from compassion fatigue when a patrol partner is involved in a shooting scenario. Child abuse care workers my experience compassion fatigue when dealing with a child rape victim. In both examples, while the professional was not the recipient of any physical trauma associated with the incident, they can develop many of the classic symptoms as if they had experienced the trauma (Cudmore, 1996; Figley, 1995; Symes, 1995).

In addition to compassion fatigue, burnout impacts law enforcement officers and social workers alike. Exposure to repeated suffering of others coupled with exposure to traumatic events and chronic stress lead to burnout (Drake & Yadama, 1996). Many believe burnout to be an inevitable occurrence in these professions. In the field of child protective workers, inadequate pay, difficult working conditions, lack of recognition, chronic stress, overwork and other negative job characteristics have led to a high burnout rate (Drake & Yadama, 1996). Each of these conditions is present in the field of law enforcement. As indicated in social work literature, the consequences of burnout include but are not limited to decreased work effectiveness, absenteeism, physical problems, substance abuse, insomnia, and interpersonal problems (Shapiro, Burkey, Dorman, Welker, 1996). These effects of burnout are also many of the effects felt by law enforcement officers who were involved in shootings (Finn & Tomz, 1997; Hennen, 1999; Solomon, 1988; Turco, 1986).