Stressful crime fighting causing cops to snap
Published:Monday | April 18, 2011 | 12:00 AM
Glenn Tucker, Contributor
The police force came in for some unfair and unfavourable comments after the police Corporal Wayne Llewellyn massacred his wife's family in a fit of rage recently. One talk-show host opened his show that day, and the following day, with words like these, "... Why would a policeman, who is sworn to serve and protect, do such a thing to innocent people?" Allow me to answer him: It's stress!
We do not have data on matters like these in our country, so I will have to refer to statistics from other countries to make certain points. Dr Hans Selye, the foremost researcher of stress in the world, says, "... Police work is the most stressful occupation in the US." Our police have far fewer resources and face far greater challenges than their American counterparts. So their stress level is multiplied.
One of the casualties of police work is often the marriage. Relationship problems are most dramatically demonstrated by the divorce rate among police officers, which is usually reported as being the second-highest of all occupations in the US - about 60-70 per cent higher than the general population. Researchers use suicide, divorce and alcohol abuse as the three key indices of stress in any group. Any one of these can be found in any other occupation. But the three of them seem to be intertwined for police officers. The most at-risk group seems to be aged 35-45, who have served 10-14 years.
relationship problems
Police suicide is more directly related to relationship problems than to job stress. Of the last 14 suicides among police officers in New York City up to two weeks ago, 12 had to do with divorce and relationship break-up. One study in Detroit concluded that the single most important factor that led to police suicide is marital discord.
But job stress seems to be the main cause of these relationship problems. Just imagine: An officer goes to work where every call is stressful. He has to deal with violence, injustice, death of others, and his own safety. Demands are constantly being made for him to apply restraint towards people who want to kill him on sight. Signals from his civil society are conflicting. All this to serve and protect the rest of us, many of whom do not like him, will not support him, and prefer the criminals who rob, rape and kill us. The emotional torture he suffers is not the stuff of which successful marriages are made.
resourcefulness spouses
I have formed the view that the police marriages that succeed are due, almost entirely, to the resourcefulness of the spouse at home. One study of the Chicago
The commissioner - who seems to get another commendation from me every day - wisely decided that those officers exhibiting stress should not be allowed to carry guns. I am inclined to agree, as American policemen who carry guns have a higher rate of suicide than their counterparts in England, where many policemen do not carry guns. But I am mindful of the fact that in these jurisdictions, there is no stigma attached to seeing a therapist. Here, it means that the person is 'mad'.
In all of this, let us not forget that the deceased officer had loved ones too. They are not only grieving. They are carrying a heavy burden. They also need help. Policemen rarely seek help when things go wrong, so their colleagues need to help by looking for certain warning signs. Some of these are fatigue, headaches, depression, despair, anger, eating disorders, alcoholism and sleep problems. Work performance usually starts to deteriorate about six months before the suicide attempt.
It may not be a bad idea for the private sector to organise events that officers can attend with their families so they can interact with those who appreciate them. At present, many spouses just do not understand the demands of the department.
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