Mental Health Awareness for Police Officers

Abstract

Law enforcement officers often become involved in stressful situations and these events can impact individuals in different ways. Exposure to traumatic incidents may range from violent domestic disputes or sexual assaults to fatal collisions, homicides, drownings, suicides, terrorist bombings, and natural disasters. All police officers, including specialist officers, may accumulate the effects of this trauma rather quickly or over a lengthy period of time. Identifying stress in colleagues and reducing the impact of police work on individual officers and staff is a key part of modern police management and is a responsibility of all law enforcement officers, regardless of rank. It is incumbent on police officers to identify stress and concerning psychological behavior in their colleagues.