Mandatory Counseling For Police Officers Essay

Police Departments Should Implement Mandatory Counseling for All Officers

In the United States, the average career length of a police officer is approximately 20-25 years (Paton, et al. 3). During this period of time, law enforcement officers are repeatedly exposed to traumatic or critical events, in addition to organizational stressors as, for instance, shift work or overtime (Paton, et al. 3). As a result of the difficult and dangerous duties their job involves, the occupational stress that police officers face is “cumulatively debilitating and consuming” (Malmin). Due to the peculiar subculture of law enforcement, which emphasizes independence and individual strength, officers tend not to access psychological help when they are experiencing

It is important to understand what happens in the human body when experiencing an occasional stress situation, or long-term stress. The autonomic nervous system (ANS), which is a network of nerves directly affecting every organ in the body, has two branches; the sympathetic ANS, which prepares the body to cope with stress, and the parasympathetic ANS, which opposes the effects of the sympathetic ANS and controls rest (Collingwood 1). In a healthy person, the two branches are in balance, which means that there is action followed by relaxation (Collingwood 1). However, in the case of long-term, chronic stress, the sympathetic ANS is dominant and it does not let the body to relax (Collingwood 1). This might lead to numerous health problems, including high blood pressure, infections, allergies, skin problems, muscular pain, diabetes, heart problems and infertility (Collingwood 2). Police officers, being regularly exposed to traumatic and stressful events, might face these health problems if they do not learn how to cope with occupational stress. For this reason, counseling with a professional would significantly affect officers’ physical, and also mental health in a positive