Police Stress - Opinion

From the owner: "Police work is one of the most stressful jobs out there." In my opinion, most police officers don't realize the stress (or amount of stress) until after they've done the job for a couple of years, maybe even 3 or 4 years. The stressors can be anything and everything from scratching your cruiser, to filling a ticket wrong to missing something in your report to not properly reading someone their rights. I know these sound petty, but depending on an officer's department, officers can be written up for any single one of these things. My department for example has recently written me up for getting a cruiser stuck in the grass. To briefly explain, I received a radio call to an alarm with another officer. The building was approximately 100 feet from the road; I observed two people (that hadn't seen me yet) in front of the building and observed tire marks in the grass on the side of the building. For safety reasons and the opportunity to surprise the suspects, I positioned my cruiser on the side of the building so they wouldn't see me coming. To make a long story short, my cruiser got stuck. The message sent? Property over life. My life. I know of another officer written up (with 2 days off without pay, which means a loss of seniority) for accidentally swapping two VIN numbers on two impound slips when towing two cars involved in the same accident. The point is, officers become more worried about these petty things then they need be. Coupled with the public, dealing with bad guys, relationships, etc. etc., you can see how police work can be stressful. And these stressors have nothing to with the real job of dealing with the public or responding to a man with a gun.

What have I done to combat these stressors? Find something else besides police work. Don't take the job home with you. When you get in your personal vehicle, turn your radio off and don't listen to it at home. Don't watch cops shows (all the time anyway), and try to hang out with people who aren't the police. While on the job, take it seriously but don't take it personally. Criminals, idiots, bad guys, etc. all have a job to do, just like you. I realized awhile ago that the more I try to argue back with people or get mad at their actions, or explain to them more then twice, the more angry I would get as a person. Now I can honestly say that most idiots I deal with make me laugh more then angry. I have a job to do and that's what I tell them. I hope some of this advice helps you.