Two Methods of Policing: Will the Resources of the Police Officers and the Local Communities be Spiraling Upwards or Downwards?

Abstract

It has long been established that working as a police officer is associated with stress and health problems Habersaat et al. [1]. When compared to other occupations, a heightened level of risks with regard to on duty actions resulting in ill-health or injuries has been documented Mayhew [2]. These risks included also an elevated frequency of threats. Consequently, Violanti [3] has compared US police officers day to day work with warfare: “The police officer is expected to be combat-ready at all times...[facing] a continual sense of danger from an unknown enemy...While the Vietnam veteran was at war for a minimum of nine months, police officers alternate between the violence of the street (e.g., shootings, witnessing death and mutilation, dealing with abused children) and the normalcy of civilian life on a daily basis.”