Police

To begin, I will state that public security and private security need each other to survive in their fields. Unfortunately, public security or state police officers, don’t usually have enough personnel nor can they be everywhere all over town. There Just isn’t enough man power. Public safety gets paid by taxpayers to patrol their neighborhoods, schools, large banks, airports etc. They don’t have the time or people to Just hang around certain neighborhoods all day and night or small businesses. This is where they benefit from public security and their unique responsibilities.

Like everything, sometimes these relationships are like a marriage. Some work and some don’t, I guess it depends on demographic and education. I know in Miami, Fl where my husband served a couple of years as a private security officer they got a lot of support when they needed to make an arrest (depending on the neighborhood or gig) but when it came to having the police patrol areas that were hot in between shifts, they were virtually nowhere to be seen. This left them with a lot of work load and relying on their training and personal strategies on how to deal with the days work.

My husband said the officers who used to patrol the areas he was in would tell him to rely on his weapon because the cops were Jerks and sometimes took too long to show up to a scene. My husband is a social butterfly. He loves to talk to people and make them laugh and become your friend. I’d say he could be an excellent Disney officer! With this being said, he made it his mission to befriend the counties cops and work with them. In less than 3 months, he was friendly with two cops and had personal contact exchanged.

He brought them food whenever he got a chance and looked out when he left his shifts and made sure all was good on his drive back home, grocery store, school etc. They became a mini team and my husband felt very supported by the local public officers. I felt comfort knowing they were a team and my husband had backup out in the real world. My husband’s security firm was very small and unrecognized but they had very solid clients. Some of these clients included deiced agencies, high end condominiums, high end bars in downtown, and other good paying residential areas.

They had contacts with these kind of places. My mom asked him once why such wealthy condos hired them instead of relying on local police. These were after all, higher tax paying individuals’ right? If you know Miami, you know that all homes that were worth millions of dollars in neighborhoods like Cutler Bay don’t want to live in Caribbean Blvd near the Turnpike. Every ritzy neighborhood whether residential or commercial, had a low class poor neighborhood r high crime neighborhood border lining it. This is where they come in.

Some of these areas police department had this annoying habit of not coming to the crime scene immediately even if you did live in the Vicar neighborhood. This is where private security is compensated and supported by the communities and public officers. My husband guarded a hospital branch and condominium from pm to Sam 4 days a week. Cops were not always available to come and make a report about a parking lot light that was out, a missing sign, a loud teenager at the pool, a dog whose winner keeps letting them relieve themselves right in front of some front doors.

I am sure that my husband being there responding to these tedious little things that may seem insignificant but are actually relieving a burden off the officers. On the other hand, state and local police were tending to the streets, following up on emergencies and minor incidents, traffic violations, domestic calls etc. They relief their workload and works in their favor to have private officers taking care of other issues within the same community/city. Some people are scared and think that privatized security is eke authorizing vigilantism, I actually recently read that somewhere online.

This cannot be proven anywhere in the US. In order to secure our neighborhoods, we must be willing to pay. I mean actually pay out of our pockets. If you are not willing to pay, don’t complain about the pudgy grandpa that is napping at Bam instead of securing your investment. You get what you give and it can be a perfect harmony in between public and private agencies especially if they’re willing to train together and work together as a united force called for different area codes.

There has widespread public outcry on issues relating to safety, women are purported to be the main victims as they were the ones that most attacked at called the attention of relevant authorities. A series of interviews were carried out on three different women to on matters relating to public safety.

This was in action to decipher the extent of the threat or imminent threats they faced, how they felt about it, how they would prevent or defend themselves when in such unfortunate situations and the recommendations that they would have to the public safety department in a bid to lower the risks of being attacked.

The city was rated to be the least safe place in the country, but there were a few exceptions to the status quo. From the interviews it was discovered that all the respondents rated their hoods unsafe and they would prefer staying indoors all the time if need be. They all felt secure when in malls, places near the police station and mostly banks.

There was a mixed answer in the places that were presumed to be less secure; I categorically picked the word ‘presume’ because none of the respondents reported that they had ever been attacked or molested in the places they mentioned. The market place was rated to be the least secure place, then the central business district followed and deserted allays closed the list of dangerous places. The respondents felt secure in markets and the CBD because the probability of one noticing danger or more so evade it was very low.

None of them had been attacked but they felt most insecure when in those two areas, deserted alleys were marked as red zones because one would feel very helpless when confronted in such places. Barber shops and clubs also fell into sharp criticism as their securities were termed inefficient for such crowded areas.

Other people would opt to call for private barber services than risk exposing themselves to the areas they termed crime prone. Word was that no one could risk walking outside alone but if the situation forced it then they would either call some other person to tell them how insecure they feel then walk lit pathways or walk in a group of more than 10 people to boost personal security. The respondents agreed that they would forego walking in the dark at all costs if they other alternatives.

Rainy was said to be the most dangerous time then followed by snow seasons. I bet this because of the darkness that engulfs when these seasons come. All the respondents were women and they said that feel more insecure than men would be because they felt that male masculinity was an added advantage when it comes to lessening the imminent security threat or even fighting it off. This claim was fortified by one respondent that said that her husband would be the first person she would ever call when in a dire situation.

From the investigation it was clear that none of the women had ever been publicly molested in crowded areas of mugged in deserted alleys but they all felt very insecure about the places. Maybe that was an indication that the situation has always been under control and that the police department was working; but not publicly.

Their recommendations of a secure city and neighborhood would be one that has regular police patrols and one that has all streets and deserted pathways properly lit. Peoples fear can be attributed to the psychological triggers of darkness and the one of feeling accosted when in dark alleys (leer-2017). With said, it is high time the peoples recommendations be worked on so as to boost public confidence in matters relating public safety.ReferenceA Lear- 2017, behavior therapySafety behavior after extinction triggers a return of threat expectancy

Human Rights and Police Brutality

Police brutality is the use of any force exceeding that reasonably necessary to accomplish a lawful police purpose. Police work is dangerous. Sometimes police put in situations that excessive force is needed. But, because some officers use these extreme measures in situations when it is not, police brutality occurs.

This argument is directed to two different types of people: he police and the public. This addresses two different types of an audience. It addresses a hostile audience and it addresses a sympathetic audience. You can who the audience is because the author tells you in the Premium

Police Brutality Introductory Statement

Police brutality is one of the biggest human rights violations in the United States. Sometimes police are put into situations that excessive force is necessary; but, because some officers use these extreme measures in situations when it is not completely necessary.

Crash (2004) Paragraph 1: Crash tells the story of people from wildly disparate walks of life as they collide and intersect with one another. Each life is in some way personally affected, changed, damaged, or victimized by racism. They’re also all in some way guilty of racism themselves. via interlocking stories, the cultural, racial, and spiritual isolation of Los Angelinos. Due to the sprawling city’s decentralized, car-reliant layout, Haggis’s characters have become sheltered from those not in their own socio-economic sphere, and this seclusion has led to virulent narrow-mindedness.

(Brendan Fraser) is the white District Attorney of Los Angeles who participates in racial politics in order to further his career. Rick and his wife Jean are carjacked by Anthony and Peter, both of whom are black. To preserve his support in the black community as the election approaches, Rick arranges for his assistant to blackmail Detective Graham Waters, who is black, into testifying against a white cop whom Graham thinks is innocent in order to create a press event that will reassure voters of Cabot’s racial sensitivity.

The film alludes to the possibility Rick might be having an affair with his black assistant. Jean Cabot (Sandra Bullock) is Rick’s wife, whose racial prejudices escalate after she and her husband experience a carjacking. When a tattooed, Mexican-American locksmith changes the locks to her house, she insists that the locks be changed again in fear that he is keeping an extra copy of their house key. Following an accident in her home, she comes to the realization that the person who is her only true friend is Maria, her Hipic maid who she has belittled and treated sub-human up until this point.

Anthony (Ludacris) is a black, inner-city car thief who steals cars to sell to a chop shop. Anthony brings awareness to many racial and stereotypical views others hold to blacks even though some of his actions at the same time reinforce them. He provides a good example of the term ‘double consciousness. ’ Anthony steals a van which was full of trafficked people from South East Asia. Even though he is aware of racism suffered by black people, he refers to the immigrants as Chinamen, a stereotype in itself.

After refusing to sell the trafficked people to the chop shop owner, he instead shows compassion for them and lets them out onto the Asian district of Los Angeles and gives them money to eat. Peter Waters (Larenz Tate) is Anthony’s friend and partner in crime. He is also Detective Waters’ younger brother. Like Anthony, he is black. Peter is shot to death by Officer Hansen, who picks him up in the Valley, hours after their failed carjacking of Cameron’s Lincoln Navigator and mistakenly shoots him after assuming he is drawing a gun during an escalating argument.

In reality he was reaching into his pocket to show the cop a figure of Saint Christopher, identical to the one Officer Hansen had stuck to his dashboard. As he is dying, he has an expression of shock/surprise and holds out his hand to reveal he had no weapon. Detective Graham Waters (Don Cheadle) is an African-American detective in the Los Angeles Police Department. He is disconnected from his poor family, which consists of his drug-addicted mother and criminal younger brother. He promises his mother that he will find his younger brother, but he is preoccupied with a case concerning a suspected racist white cop who shot a corrupt black cop.

Flanagan (William Fichtner), an assistant to the district attorney, offers Graham the chance to further his career in exchange for withholding evidence that could possibly have helped the white cop’s case. Flanagan also tries to convince Graham that the black community needs to see the black cop as a hero, and not as a drug dealer, as Graham suspects that he may have been. Graham is both offended and opposed, and is ready to storm out, when Flanagan mentions that there is a warrant out for Graham’s brother’s arrest, and that this is his third felony, which carries a life sentence in the state of California.

Graham makes a very difficult personal decision to withhold evidence and possibly corrupt a case in order to have the District Attorney forget about his brother. That brother is eventually revealed to be Peter, the hitchhiker who is killed by Officer Hansen. Graham’s detachment from his mother culminates when his mother, having learned of Pete’s death, blames Graham as the reason behind his brother’s murder. It is shown that she has always favored the younger brother.

This fact exasperates Graham at the end when his mother claims Pete came home and brought groceries for her, when in reality, it was Graham that took the time to restock her previously desolate food supply. Ria (Jennifer Esposito) is a Latina detective, as well as Graham’s partner and girlfriend. When a phone call from Graham’s mother interrupts his sexual romp with Ria, she becomes upset with Graham for being disrespectful to his mother and his subsequently racially insensitive remark towards Hipics after implying she was a Mexican, which she was in fact Puerto Rican and Salvadorean.

She is shown to be racist toward Asians, as she criticizes an Asian woman’s driving. Officer Tommy Hansen (Ryan Phillippe) is a Los Angeles police officer who, after observing his partner Officer John Ryan pull over Cameron Thayer and Christine Thayer and sexually molest Christine, requests a change of partner because of feelings of guilt over the incident. His supervisor, Lieutenant Dixon, tells him he will transfer him if he claims his “uncontrollable flatulence” requires him to drive a one-man car. The next day, after he presumably files the request, he is reassigned to a single-man patrol car.

While on patrol he joins a police chase of Cameron Thayer, who was being car-jacked, but fought off his carjackers and is fleeing the scene with one carjacker still in the car. After driving into a dead-end, Cameron, now resentful of the LAPD, confronts the police officers. Tommy jumps in front of Cameron and tries to convince him to stand down to avoid a confrontation which could possibly result in Cameron’s death. He then vouches for Cameron, stating that he is a friend of his, and lets him off with a “harsh warning. Tommy is later seen driving in his car when he picks up Peter Waters, who is hitch-hiking. He ultimately reveals his own insecurities with other races (African-Americans in particular) through his treatment of Peter Waters and how he quickly dismisses Waters’ attempts to compare similarities between them. He pulls over when he assumes that Peter is laughing at him, and tells him to get out of the car. As Peter reaches into his pocket, Tommy wrongly assumes that Peter is reaching for a hidden gun, and shoots him dead. He removes Peter from the car to cover up the incident.

We later see Peter, who is the brother of Graham Waters, dead in the grass near where Tommy pulled over. Finally, we see Tommy walking away from his burning car wearing a pair of latex gloves, thus concealing his involvement in the shooting. Officer John Ryan (Matt Dillon) is a bigoted white police officer who sexually molests Cameron’s wife, Christine, under the pretense of searching for a weapon after pulling over their vehicle and accusing them of endangerment due to Christine performing fellatio on Cameron while he was driving.

Meanwhile, Ryan is trying to get help for his father, who possibly suffers from prostate cancer but has been diagnosed with a bladder infection, despite the ineffectiveness of treatment. His anger manifests in prejudice, as is evident when he exhibits a racist attitude towards an HMO employee preventing his father from seeing an out of network, non-HMO physician. His racial prejudices seem to stem from the destructive impact that local affirmative action policies had on his father’s business. After Hansen requests solo patrol, Ryan is partnered with a Hipic-American with whom he seems to get along.

Ryan later puts his own life on the line to save Christine, the woman he molested earlier, from certain death in a fiery car wreck. Lieutenant Dixon (Keith David) is Officers Ryan and Hansen’s shift Lieutenant. An African American, Dixon believes that the LAPD is a racist organization that he personally had to work extra hard in to earn a ranking position. When Hansen requests to change partners, Dixon refuses stating that doing so because of Officer Ryan’s racism will reflect poorly on their unit.

He claims that going on record about supervising racist officers such as Ryan can be a move that will cost both Hansen and Dixon their jobs. In order to get away from Officer Ryan, he then suggests that Officer Hansen ride in a solo car claiming to have a condition of “uncontrollable flatulence. ” Cameron Thayer (Terrence Howard) is a black television director. He witnesses Officer Ryan molesting his wife and later realises that the producers of his television show propagate racist stereotypes about black people.

In an emotional moment, he fights off Anthony and Peter when they try to steal his car, takes away Anthony’s gun, and argues fiercely with armed white police officers. Just when it is very likely that he will be shot to death, Hansen intervenes on his behalf and prevents any outbreak of violence. After being let off with a warning, Cameron then proceeds to let Anthony go and even gives him his gun back. At the scene of Hansen’s burning car (to eliminate evidence of a murder), he is able to find contentment and reconnnects with his wife.

Christine Thayer (Thandie Newton) is Cameron’s wife. She is molested by Ryan after she and Cameron are pulled over for her giving oral sex to her husband while he was driving them home. She becomes furious with her husband because he didn’t defend her. The two insult each other over their upbringings – as both Cameron and Christine have grown up in more privileged environments than many other African Americans. The next day she is trapped in an overturned car due to a car accident and, by a twist of fate, Officer Ryan is the man who willingly endangers himself to save her life.

Daniel Ruiz (Michael Pena) is a Mexican-American locksmith who faces discrimination from Jean and others because he looks like a gangbanger to them, when he is actually a devoted family man. After Anthony and Peter steal Jean and Rick’s car, Daniel comes over and changes the locks on their home. Daniel seeks a safe environment for his young daughter, Elizabeth, who had a bullet go through her window in their previous home. That is why he moved to a safer neighborhood and enrolled her in a private school. Near the beginning he gives Elizabeth an invisible “cloak” that he says will protect her should someone try to shoot at her.

Farhad shoots at Elizabeth and Daniel but they escape unhurt, because the gun contains blanks chosen by Dorri earlier in the film. However, Elizabeth believes that this is due to the protective powers of the “cloak. ” Farhad (Shaun Toub) is a Persian store owner who is afraid for his safety. He is depicted as frustrated by the racial harassment he experiences in the United States (despite being an American citizen), as well as deterred by difficulties with speaking English. To protect his store – the only thing his family has – he goes to a gun shop and attempts to buy a gun.

The gun store owner quickly becomes frustrated with Farhad’s conversation with his daughter Dorri in Persian, leading to harassment from the owner, who believes that Persians are Arabs and therefore, terrorists, one of these comments being “Yo, Osama, plan the jihad on your own time. ” The owner refuses to sell Farhad a gun, but finally sells the gun to Farhad’s daughter after being cryptic and lecherous about which bullets she needs. The store run by Farhad and his wife Shereen (Marina Sirtis) has a door which will not close properly, so they call a locksmith, Daniel.

Farhad’s suspicion of others is compounded by his difficulty understanding English; he does not heed Daniel’s warning that his shop door needs replacing, believing Daniel intends to cheat him, and as a result suffers a break-in. Shereen reacts to the slurs written on the walls of the store: “They think we’re Arab. When did Persian become Arab? ” Blaming Daniel for the invasion and racially-motivated destruction of his store, and angered by the insurance company rejecting his claim on the grounds of negligence, he confronts Daniel at his house, wielding his gun.

Farhad fires at Daniel but accidentally shoots Daniel’s daughter Lara, to the horror of both Daniel and Farhad. Fortunately, unknowingly to Farhad, the gun contains blanks. Farhad leaves without further incident, later telling his daughter that his “farishta,” his guardian angel, protected him and his family. Dorri (Bahar Soomekh) is Farhad’s daughter, and is more acclimated than her father to American culture. She purposefully purchases blanks after her father has upset the man at the counter in the gun store. She is constantly trying to calm her father down during his emotional outbursts.

She is also an employee at the hospital; she escorts Graham and his mother to Peter’s body after it is discovered in a field. Paragraph 2: Thirty-six hours in the life of a disparate group of Los Angelinos linked together by a car crash. The debut film from Million Dollar Baby screenwriter Paul Haggis as succession of characters become involved in heated exchanges that either bring to the surface long-buried prejudices or fan the flames of hatred already out in the open. The film is about racial and social tensions in Los Angeles.

Reminiscent of Magnolia and Short Cuts, Crash comprises a number of separate stories that are loosely connected. Set over a period of 24 hours, each vignette offers a different perspective of the multi-ethnic melting pot that is life in Los Angeles. The film uses its characters not so much to tell a story, but to express an opinion, from the racial cop (Matt Dillon), to the campaigning District Attorney (Brendan Fraser) anxious to capture the black vote, to the black television director (Terence Howard) toning down his ethnicity in a predominantly white industry.

All fit into well-defined stereotypes and engage in the kind of dialogue reserved more for an impassioned polemic than everyday conversation. Paragraph 3: Conclusion: It’s a bold effort that initially attempts to tackle the issue of racial conflict in a refreshingly unstinting way for a mainstream film. Crash taps into the underlying tension of city where the haves and have nots might pull up next to each other in traffic, but are still a world apart. Haggis ventures beyond the more commonly explored white black issue to encompass a gamut of ethnic vantage points including Hipic, Korean and Iranian.

Being educated is one of the most important attributes a person can have. However, there is a difference between being educated from experience and being educated from readings and schoolwork. Though being knowledgeable through experience allows a person to be thought of as well-rounded, the basics of his or her own rights and abilities are often overlooked. Not too many people can recite all of their rights and capabilities and be able to explain them to an outsider. The American legal system is increasingly important with the constant changes in what is acceptable to our society.

Being well-educated in the rights of one’s country allows for a citizen to become more involved and in turn, appreciate his or her country. An exact definition of educated would be termed as “having an education or having knowledge based from fact”, according to the online Merriam-Webster Dictionary. To become educated, a person enters and may commit to a continuous process. Education is a process of gaining knowledge through self-examination and will, interactions with peers or elders, pure experience. One can even say that a person is educated through instinct alone.

However, instinct alone cannot suffice if one wishes to enter the job force and rise in society. There is also a responsibility that comes along with gaining education. With the acquiring of knowledge there is the choice to use it to one’s advantage or to keep it to oneself. Education is variable. One can be more educated in law than another, and one can be more educated in music than another. How educated a person is is dependent on how much they want to learn about a subject. Not every piece of knowledge about the American government is handed to each citizen.

Though many do not seek further education beyond high school, the resources are there for the use of learning and practicing one’s freedom. An example of a well-educated person in terms of an American’s rights and liberties would be a lawyer. A lawyer is schooled for many years about the legal system, including the laws and constitution of America. It is with their degree that lawyers gain the right and trust to provide legal advice and guidance. Some lawyers further their education and occupational ranking by becoming magistrates.

Magistrates are looked upon has having a high education and understanding of the law, rights, and regulations of our society. Another example would be the occupation of a police officer. A police officer acts as a guide and stable hand to the society of America. A police officer learns and practices the constitutional law and keeps wrongdoers in check as much as possible. They create a safer environment for people to live in and lead by example by enforcing the rules as sternly as possible. When a criminal or delinquent is arrested they are confronted by the officer saying “you have the right to remain silent”.

The police officer is making the citizen aware of their right as an American. When a business is made and operated, the owner or owners practice their legal rights as an American. These rights are laid out in exact detail through a contract signed in the process of starting a business. The owner is well educated in the law and rights that he or she must follow and practice. As a business owner, one will practice property rights most often. “Property is a set of legal rights to exclude others from interfering with one’s acquisition, possession, use, and transfer of limited resources” .

By owning a business, a person has the right to acquire, dispose of, and use property freely. According to the Cato Handbook for Policymakers, property is the foundation of every right we Americans have, which includes the right to be free. Therefore, every land owner practices their rights as an American. “When laws are generally and equally applicable they will tend to produce a beneficial social order because lawmakers cannot benefit themselves exclusively but only as they also benefit the populace as a whole”. The laws are set in the U. S.

Constitution in order to provide order and stability in American society. The writers of the constitution were not as learned about society and democracy as people are today, but they were educated enough to realize what laws and guidelines would create a greater society and social system. The constitution allows for certain authorities to lead the United States. These authorities have a greater understanding and education about how society should work and run. With a greater education and understanding of the United States laws and freedoms, an American citizen has the capacity to appreciate and take part in their society.

A well-educated person has knowledge of fact and experience combined whether it is from schooling or by random occurrence. Through schooling, one can become part of the American government and practice the law by providing guidance and stability for citizens who may seem unaware. With numerous resources available to anyone in America, the ability to become well-educated in the subject of the government and the rights of the American citizen is easy.

Works Cited

1. A Summary of the US Constitution. n. d. 15 June 2011 lt;http://www2. waketech. edu/blogs/elcivics/files/2011/03/summary-of-the-USConstitution. pdf;gt;.
2. Merriam-Webster, Incorporated. “educated. ” n. d. Merriam-Webster. com. 17 June 2011 ;lt; http://www. merriam-webster. com/dictionary/educated;gt;
3. “Property Rights and the Constitution. ” Cato Handbook for Policymakers 7. (2009): 345-362 17 June 2011.
4. Reed, O. Lee. “Law, The Rule of Law, and Property: A Foundation for the Private Market and Business Study. ” American Business Law Journal 8. (2001): 441-474. Web. 17 June 2011.

Security Cameras have become widespread in many countries. Whereas before they appeared only in banks and at the high security areas, they are now entering public places such as malls, streets, stadiums and transport. Many people teel this attects their privacy. Apparently, there are advantages and disadvantages to the use of such devices. Surveillance cameras have several benefits. An obvious benefit Is that the police can catch criminals in the act, thus reduce crimes. This will make the streets safer for ordinary people.

A more important point is that criminals, particularly young offenders or petty criminals will be deterred. They will not be tempted to carry out crimes, and thus society will be a lot safer. Cameras are cost-effective and unobtrusive. Authorities do not need to spend large amounts of money on police. However, security cameras are far from being a perfect solution. The biggest objection concerns privacy. Many people feel that they should be free to travel or move around a shop, a mall, a street or a country without being photographed or recorded.

They feel that being watched constantly Is Ilke being In Jail. Another point is that although the police say that only criminals have something to fear from the cameras, many people do not trust governments with too much information. Corrupt authorltles could use Information In the wrong way or twist It to vlctlmlze some groups. Thirdly, cameras and computers can make mistakes. In conclusion, although there are definite advantages to using surveillance devices, we need to balance the need tor security with respect tor individual’s privacy and treedom.

There has been a lot of research on the negative effects of stress on people in general. I am sure you know that police work is one of the top rated professions for job stress next to air traffic controllers and dentists. A good way to start this presentation, I think, is to give a good working definition of police stress. Here it is: The feeling and desire along with the ensuing bodily effects, experienced by a person who has a strong and true longing to choke the living crap out of someone who desperately deserves it, but you can’t.

Now, while this may sound funny there is a real element of truth to it. An element of truth that says an awful lot about police work. And that is the part of the definition “……but you can’t”. Police work, by it’s very nature, calls for an incredible amount of restraint. Continual restraint and draining restraint. It is stressful. The demands on police officers to show even greater restraint have been increasing over the years, and so has the effects of stress on police work.

With the recent attention that police suicide has received in the media there have been a number of reviews on it. Between 1934 and 1960 police suicide rates were half that of the general population. Between 1980 to the present, suicide rates in some departments almost doubled. What is the difference? You can’t choke them anymore! Street justice is all but gone. Everyone has video cameras. The media gets off on putting down cops. Politicians continue to throw new laws and restrictions for police officers that further tie their hands, and you can’t choke anyone with your hands tied! So you start to feel that you’re choking yourself.

Lets take a quick overview of police work and look at the research of what the biggest stressors are:

• Killing someone in the line of duty.
• Having your partner killed in the line of duty.
• Lack of support by the department/bosses.
• Shift work and disruption of family time/family rituals.
• The daily grind of dealing with the stupidity of the public.

Interestingly, physical danger is ranked low on the list of stressors by police officers.

One of the worst effects of stress on police officers is of course suicide. We are becoming too familiar with police suicide, especially with the attention the media has given New York City. Twice as many police officers die by their own hand as do in the line of duty. (New York Times, 1994)

A study of 2376 Buffalo NY police officers found that, compared to the white male population police officers, there were higher mortality rates for cancer, suicide, and heart disease. The suggested reason: Higher stress levels.

Every study done points to the higher levels of stress police officers face, but what form does that stress take? With suicide there seem to be four factors:

1. Divorce.
2. Alcohol, not alcoholism. That was one of the early theories. But in actuality it was the use of alcohol right before the act to “get up the nerve”.
3. Depression.
4. A failure to get help. (Most officers who commit suicide have no history of having sought counseling).

All four factors are symptoms that can come from an officer’s stress levels. Police suicide is more directly related to relationship problems than to job stress. Of the last 14 suicides among the police officers in New York City, 12, or 86%, had to do with divorce or relationship breakup.

Suicide is often an impulsive act, and the handgun at the officer’s side is guaranteed to be lethal in the hands of an experienced shooter.

UB professor, John M. Violanti, Ph.D thinks the biggest reason for the high rate of police suicide is because officers think they have nowhere to go for confidential help when personal problems or job stress overwhelms them. “Police officers are more hesitant than the average citizen to get help for emotional problems. Because of their role, they mistrust many things, and they especially mistrust mental health professionals,” Violanti said. “Departments should include some sort of suicide awareness training in their stress management program.”

Police officers going through a divorce are 5 times more likely to commit suicide than that of an officer in a stable marriage. Relationship problems however, are highly related to job stress.

If we consider that officers have an important relationship with their department, we can examine the effect of that relationship gone bad. Officers who get in serious trouble on the job, suspended or facing termination, are 7 times more likely to commit suicide. (Apparently cops like their jobs better than their wives).

So we see that stress has an enormous effect on police officers’ lives, especially their home lives. Studies have called police work a “high risk lifestyle”. Not high risk in terms of the physical dangers of the job, but a high risk in terms of developing attitudinal problems, behavioral problems, and intimacy and relationship problems. So you learn something about the effects of police work. You learn if you ask the average cop “Hey, what’s been the scariest experience during your police career?” They will answer “My first marriage!”

The national divorce rate is 50%. All research shows police suffer a substantially higher divorce rate with estimates ranging from 60 to 75%. One of the casualties of police work is often the marriage.

Although law enforcement officers deal with stressful situations in the normal course of their duties, excessive stress on individual officers may cause them not to carry out their responsibilities. In order to keep law enforcement organizations at 100%, administrators must be able to identify the causes of dysfunctional stress on individual officers.

Much of the articles we find today on the causes of law enforcement stress, focus primarily on the factors that are personal to the individual officer. However, other researchers suggest that an officer’s ability to live with this stress is hindered by the structure and operation of the organization within which he or she works.

“Police stress” is considered by many to be an important societal problem (Cullen, et al., 1985), and police work is thought of as stressful (Kelling and Pate, 1975). Law enforcement officers must be aware of the dangers of psychological stress. Stress is the result of “demands placed on the system” and need not be harmful unless it is “mismanaged” or “present in large quantities.” However, some analysts say that occupational and life stress can cause mental and even physical problems.

For example, one study of 2,300 officers in twenty-nine different police departments reported that thirty-six percent of the officers had serious marital problems, twenty-three percent had serious alcohol problems, twenty percent had serious problems with their children, and ten percent had drug problems. (Kendrix, 1989) Yet, police were well below the average in seeking [medical and] mental treatment. The “macho” image of a police officer may well keep a police officer from seeking such treatment. Law enforcement officers have significantly higher rates of health problems, premature deaths, suicides and general hospital admissions than other occupations (Richard and Fell, 1975).

Law enforcement stress has been categorized into three sections. These are:

1. stress that is internal to the law enforcement system;
2. stress that is in the law enforcement job itself; and
3. stress that is external to law enforcement.

Stress internal to the job may be found when police and correctional officers find themselves with conflicting roles. Police spend much of their time in activities not directly related to law enforcement functions, while correction officers are placed in both the role of providing “custody [and] treatment.” Law enforcement officers can develop personal conflicts by being placed in the position of having to choose between one or more contradictory goals. Such contradictions include loyalty to fellow officers and honesty within the department.

Post Traumatic Stress is a type of stress encountered at incidents that are, or perceived as, capable of causing serious injury or death. The person encountering the stress does not have to be the one whose life is threatened. This stress can also occur to witnesses. By it’s nature, Post Traumatic Stress is one of the worst types of stress a person can encounter. It is stress of a nature that is threatening to a person’s survival. The psychological and physical reactions of our mind and body to Post Traumatic Stress are at the extremes. Examples of life threatening traumas that can cause Post Traumatic Stress, in their general order of severity, include: natural disasters, serious accidents, serious accidents where a person is at fault, intentional life threatening violence by another person, life threatening trauma caused by betrayal by a trusted individual, and life threatening trauma caused by betrayal by someone you depend on for survival.

Police officers, by the nature of their jobs, can be exposed to more stress and trauma in one day than many people will experience in a considerable period of time, maybe even their entire life. Some police officers thrive on stress. They seek out incidents that most people would not care to encounter in their lifetime. Many people seek out a job in police work for this challenge and the personal rewards it provides. Overcoming stress of great magnitude can provide great personal rewards, but these jobs can and do ruin many lives.

Dr. George Everly, a noted researcher on emergency services stress, estimates that at any given time15-32% of all emergency responders will be dealing with a reaction to Post Traumatic Stress, and there is a 30-64% chance that they will have a reaction to it during their lifetime. For law enforcement working in urban areas, 20-30% of the officers will develop a reaction to Post Trauma Stress during their lifetimes. These figures are higher than the percentages for the general population (1-3%), urban adolescents (9-15%), and, surprisingly, Vietnam Veterans (15-20%).

For a variety of reasons, some of which are not known, many police officers work through Post Traumatic Stress and its affects. The impact of Post Traumatic Stress on their lives is short-lived (if they suffer from it at all). In the Diagnostical and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV), this is defined as Acute Stress Disorder. It lasts more than two days, but no longer than 4 weeks.

There are those, however, that will not be able to cope with the Post Traumatic Stress they have encountered. They may have handled many traumatic incidents without a problem, until one happens that breaks through their ability to cope. These officers will develop what is known as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), which is Acute Stress Disorder that lasts more than 4 weeks. In their book on “Emergency Services Stress”, Dr. Jeff Mitchell and Dr. Grady Bray estimate that without proper Post Trauma Stress training, response, and follow-up, roughly 4% of all emergency workers will develop Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.

These figures do not include those who will develop a reaction to accumulative stress, which can have affects similar to, and additive to, Post Traumatic Stress. They also do not include police officers who grew up in an urban environment and are Vietnam Veterans, of which there are more than a few. These figures also do not separate out those working patrol or traffic duties from those working specialty assignments (narcotics, vice, metro teams) from those working investigative or “inside” jobs. Uniformed assignments and certain specialty assignments place officers in positions that they will be more likely to encounter traumatic stress.