Stress in Police officers

Abstract

Stress damages people and it damages their organizations. It can be all pervasive. It can affect people in all occupations and of all ages irrespective of sex, nationality, educational background or role. Stress is an inevitable part of police personnel. Constant and unmanaged stress potentially reduces the effectiveness and efficiency of the personnel. The stressed police officers pose a threat to themselves, their colleagues, offenders and/or to public safety. The purpose of this study is to identify causes of stress and also empirically investigate the socio-demographic factors affecting stress level among police personnel. A convenience sampling method was employed to select a sample of 118 police personnel in Kerala police. Findings revealed that political pressure, lack of time for family, negative public image and low salary were the primary causes of stress among police personnel. It also emerged that stress is significantly more pronounced among those police personnel who are younger, more educated, posted in urban areas and have less work experience. Overall, the finding of this study strongly recommends a need for an internal policy reform and managerial change in the policies.