Researchers Investigate Impact of Stress on Police Officers' Physical and Mental Health

Researchers Investigate Impact of Stress on Police Officers' Physical and Mental Health

Release Date: September 25, 2008

BUFFALO, N.Y. – Policing is dangerous work, and the danger lurks not on the streets alone.

The pressures of law enforcement put officers at risk for high blood pressure, insomnia, increased levels of destructive stress hormones, heart problems, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and suicide, University at Buffalo researchers have found through a decade of studies of police officers.

UB researchers now are carrying out one of the first large-scale investigations on how the stress of police work affects an officer's physical and mental health, funded by a $1.75 million grant from the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH).

The National Institute of Justice added $750,000 to the study to measure police officer fatigue and the impact of shift work on health and performance.

John M. Violanti, Ph.D., research associate professor in UB's Department of Social and Preventive Medicine in the School of Public Health and Health Professions, is principal researcher of the study, called the Buffalo Cardio-Metabolic Occupational Police Stress (BCOPS) study.
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http://www.buffalo.edu/news/9660