Building Resilience in an Urban Police Department (original) (raw)
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Resilience Training Program Reduces Physiological and Psychological Stress in Police Officers
Global Advances in Health and Medicine, 2012
Research suggests that police work is among the most stressful occupations in the world and officers typically suffer a variety of physiological, psychological, and behavioral effects and symptoms. Officers operating under severe or chronic stress are likely to be at greater risk of error, accidents, and overreactions that can compromise their performance, jeopardize public safety, and pose significant liability costs to the organization. Therefore, this study explored the nature and degree of physiological activation typically experienced of officers on the job and the impact of the Coherence Advantage resilience and performance enhancement training on a group of police officers from Santa Clara County, California.Areas assessed included vitality, emotional well-being, stress coping and interpersonal skills, work performance, workplace effectiveness and climate, family relationships, and physiological recalibration following acute stressors. Physiological measurements were obtained...
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 2019
Background: Chronic exposure to occupational stress may lead to negative health consequences. Creating less stressful work environments and making employees physically and psychologically more resilient against stress are therefore two major public health concerns. This study examined whether cardiorespiratory fitness moderated the association between occupational stress, cardiovascular risk, and mental health. Methods: Stress was assessed via the Effort-Reward Imbalance and Job Demand-Control models in 201 police officers (36% women, Mage = 38.6 years). Higher levels of blood pressure, blood lipids, blood sugar, and unfavorable body composition were considered as cardiovascular risk factors. Burnout, insomnia and overall psychological distress were used as mental health indicators. Cardiorespiratory fitness was assessed with a submaximal bicycle test. Results: High cardiorespiratory fitness levels were associated with a reduced cardiometabolic risk, whereas high stress levels were ...
Interlinking Police Officers’ Operational Stress and Level of Resiliency
Psychology and Education: A Multidisciplinary Journal, 2024
Police officers are among the professionals known to be most exposed to critical incidents. In their quest for public safety, peace and order, they need to combat work-related stresses. This research sought to analyze the significant relationship between the operational stress and resiliency among the Regional Mobile Force Battalion (RMFB) in Region 02, Philippines, specifically to determine the levels of their operational stress and resiliency (in terms of compassion satisfaction, burnout and secondary trauma stress). A descriptive-correlation research design was used to answer the objectives of the study. The Operational Police Stress Questionnaire (McCreary & Thompson, 2006) and the Professional Quality of Life Questionnaire (Stamm, 2009) were utilized to gather the necessary data. Frequency counts, percentages, computed mean, t-test, f-test and chi-square were used to illustrate the data gathered. The RMFB have low level of operational stress, moderate level of resiliency in burnout and secondary trauma stress. A significant relationship between operational stress and resiliency was evident. It can therefore be concluded that to have the capacity to recover from operational stress, there should be high compassion satisfaction combined with moderate levels of burnout and secondary trauma stress. This embodies a more positive behavioral outcome to recuperate from a stressful situation. It is recommended to consider conducting a routine assessment of police officers’ operational stress as basis for an intervention program.
Police work stressors and cardiac vagal control
American journal of human biology : the official journal of the Human Biology Council, 2017
This study examines relationships between the frequency and intensity of police work stressors and cardiac vagal control, estimated using the high frequency component of heart rate variability (HRV). This is a cross-sectional study of 360 officers from the Buffalo New York Police Department. Police stress was measured using the Spielberger police stress survey, which includes exposure indices created as the product of the self-evaluation of how stressful certain events were and the self-reported frequency with which they occurred. Vagal control was estimated using the high frequency component of resting HRV calculated in units of milliseconds squared and reported in natural log scale. Associations between police work stressors and vagal control were examined using linear regression for significance testing and analysis of covariance for descriptive purposes, stratified by gender, and adjusted for age and race/ethnicity. There were no significant associations between police work stre...
Fostering Resilience among the Police
Police officers are often mandated to respond to extremely stressful and potentially traumatic situations over the course of their careers . Research has shown that occupational stress and trauma exposure has a negative impact on police officers' health and wellness (Violanti et al., 2005). Police officers are expected to respond to critical incidents and resolve challenging situations effectively despite routine exposure to severe stress. Even though local and national governments invest a vast amount of money in police tactical training and equipment, resilience building has not been a major component of police training. This paper aims to open a dialogue about the importance of mental preparedness training as a means of enhancing police resilience in the line of duty. The authors discuss the pioneering work of scholars (e.g., who developed research initiatives to facilitate mental preparedness among police officers. Clinical and police training applications of the aforementioned research work, as well as future directions of such outcomes are discussed.
Trauma Resilience Training for Police: Psychophysiological and Performance Effects
Journal of Police and Criminal Psychology, 2009
The objective of this study is to test the effects of police trauma resilience training on stress and performance during a critical incident police work simulation. Rookie police officers (N=18) participated in a randomized trial of a 10-week imagery and skills training program versus training as usual. Twelve months later, psychophysiological stress and police work performance were assessed during a live critical incident simulation. Training resulted in significantly less negative mood, less heart rate reactivity, a larger increase in antithrombin, and better police performance compared to controls. Trends for cortisol and self-reported stress also suggested benefits of training. This novel training program is a promising paradigm for improving police well-being, stress resiliency, and optimizing job performance.
Annals of Epidemiology, 2006
PURPOSE: The Buffalo Cardio-Metabolic Occupational Police Stress (BCOPS) study is one of the first population-based studies to integrate psychological, physiological, and subclinical measures of stress, disease, and mental dysfunction. This pilot study was undertaken to establish a methodology and descriptive results for a larger police study. METHODS: A stratified sample of 100 officers was randomly selected from the Buffalo, NY Police Department. Salivary cortisol served as a stress biomarker. Flow mediated dilation (FMD) and carotid intima-media thickness (IMT) were performed with ultrasound. Dual Energy X-Ray Absorptiometry (DEXA) and anthropometric measures assessed body composition. Self-report measures of depression and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) were obtained. RESULTS: Recruitment attained for the study was 100%. Seventy-five percent showed a cortisol increase upon awakening, 90% a negative diurnal slope, and 77% an increased cortisol response after a high protein lunch challenge. Dexamethasone suppression was evident. FMD showed an increase in mean brachial artery diameter of 3.2% in men and 3.9% in women, and mean IMT was lower (male Z 0.67 mm; female Z 0.62 mm) compared to populations of similar age. For males, the mean body-mass index (BMI) was 29.8 kg/ m 2 and total body fat 23.4%. For females, the mean BMI was 26.7 kg/m 2 and total body fat 31.5%. For all officers, 16% met criteria for depression; 36% reported elevated PTSD symptoms. CONCLUSIONS: Compared to populations of similar age, police officers had slightly lower FMD, lower carotid IMT, elevated BMI, and higher reported rates of depression and PTSD. Standardized physiological and psychological data collection and descriptive results confirmed that the methodology of the study is feasible in a working police population.