What is your motivation to become a police officer?

Two studies to date had examined the relationships between gender and race/ethnicity with motivations to become a police officer. Overall, recruits indicated that the opportunity to help others, job security, and benefits were the most important reasons for becoming a police officer.

Is being a police officer a stressful job?

Working as a police officer is one of them. In fact, Time magazine ranked policing as the fourth most stressful profession, under firefighting and piloting jobs. This probably isn’t that big of a surprise. Police officers step into dangerous situations and interact with dangerous people as part of their jobs.

Is police work a profession?

This may sound like an odd statement coming from someone who has practiced policing for 30 years and holds a command position in a large accredited police organization, but the truth is that for the majority of policing organizations in the country, policing is practiced as a trade not as a profession.

What causes police officers stress?

Of these, the police administrative organization appears to be a frequently mentioned source of stress for officers. Administrative stressors include, job demands, job insecurity, insufficient pay, and excessive paperwork (Violanti et al., 2014).

How can police officers reduce stress?

Self-regulation skills training to reduce negative emotions, improve sleep, and increase the use of effective coping strategies. Relaxation training to reduce stress and increase sleep quality. Resilience training to reduce the impact of operational stress on health and behavioral outcomes.

How long of shifts do cops work?

Most police departments have traditionally placed their patrol officers on a 40-hour workweek in which personnel work five consecutive 8-hour shifts, followed by two days off. In recent years, however, an increasing number of law enforcement agencies have moved to some variant of a compressed workweek.