Many people take for granted how stressful police work truly is, when in fact it is one of the only professions where an individual is continuously exposed to violence, murder, accidents and terrible personal injury and risk. No matter how healthy an individual truly is both mentally and physically they cannot withstand long term exposure to violence and traumatic personal incidents without some kind of blow back the stress alone can do considerable damage. But, there is the problem of the administration that only tends to get involved in reducing stress when an incident has occurred rather than getting involved before hand to help prevent incidents such as officer suicide.
Dealing with incidents before they have a chance to occur is not that difficult administrators can begin by offering extra training to help officer cope with post-traumatic stress when it occurs. It is also very important that police officers understand that counselling can be very beneficial, or even sharing their feelings with their peers so they can understand that they are not alone in their feelings and that other officers experience them to. Officers also need to learn to refrain from making judgemental comments towards an individual that has suffered a traumatic event. However, this is only a temporary fix for the damage that has been done departments also need to set up a long term form of support this doesn't have to be expensive the problem could be solved by using peer support groups, as the officers are all going through the same things.
Officers need to know they have the support of their administrators as they may already feel unappreciated by the general public. It has been found that seventy percent officers who are involved in a shooting leave their department after five years. This would not happen if the correct counselling was available to them, it only damages the department as they are losing valuable man power as well as losing out financially since they have paid to train the officer. Officers should not be made to feel like they have to deal with the stress alone they should know they have the firm support of their administrators, their peers and their families.
Dealing with incidents before they have a chance to occur is not that difficult administrators can begin by offering extra training to help officer cope with post-traumatic stress when it occurs. It is also very important that police officers understand that counselling can be very beneficial, or even sharing their feelings with their peers so they can understand that they are not alone in their feelings and that other officers experience them to. Officers also need to learn to refrain from making judgemental comments towards an individual that has suffered a traumatic event. However, this is only a temporary fix for the damage that has been done departments also need to set up a long term form of support this doesn't have to be expensive the problem could be solved by using peer support groups, as the officers are all going through the same things.
Officers need to know they have the support of their administrators as they may already feel unappreciated by the general public. It has been found that seventy percent officers who are involved in a shooting leave their department after five years. This would not happen if the correct counselling was available to them, it only damages the department as they are losing valuable man power as well as losing out financially since they have paid to train the officer. Officers should not be made to feel like they have to deal with the stress alone they should know they have the firm support of their administrators, their peers and their families.
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