Treating Police Burnout

When it comes to treating police burnout, policing has been referred to as “the most stressful occupation in America.” That according to Hans Selye, one of the world's preeminent researchers on stress.

As a leader, you already know that three high level indicators of stress - alcoholism, divorce and suicide, are all alarmingly present in policing. Much has been studied and written about this.

As an executive in policing you have the opportunity to make an impact in treating police burnout in those you are responsible for.

You already know the background situations that policing professionals face every day. Our aim is to provide a synopsis of possible actions and shifts in attitude that may lessen the number of cases of police burnout.

Here are a few things police can be intentional about promoting, encouraging and acting on.

• Continue to grow as a person. Seek to be mature and avoid being self-centered. Cultivate those characteristics that make up what we now call emotional intelligence – honesty, emotional self-awareness, resilience, good communications, compassion, integrity etc. Don't push those things down because your primary contact with people is in bad situations.


• Develop your character. Pay attention to it. Stay sensitive to what you are feeling. Stay sensitive to what others are feeling.


• Let go of what people say to you or about you. Their comments reflect their problem, not yours.


• Don't stuff emotions inside. Talk with others about what you see and experience. Stress is cumulative unless dealt with. Deal with the accumulation of daily stress ... daily. Otherwise what gathers in your daily job is brought home. Don't take out stress on those within your own home.


• Find positive ways to address stress each day. This is one of the keys to treating police burnout.Who we are does not consist of bits and pieces that can be isolated from each other. Your body's reaction to stress does not stop to ask whether it is job related or personal. It's just stress ... related to you as a whole person. Incorporate holistic strategies.


• Understand the vast majority of the public respect you and what you do. They are absolutely grateful for you. They don't want you to be another cop burnout statistic. They want you healthy and well in every way.


• Find a means to deal with anger and frustration in healthy ways. Participate in group sports, work out. Expend energy. You already know it will have all sorts of benefits.


• Love your spouse. Actively look for ways to romance them. Make your own personal growth as a husband or wife one of your highest challenges so you can make loving your spouse your highest priority. Be intentional in working on this area.


• Do not drink for escape. We are told alcoholism is high with far too many over-stressed officers. You may need to avoid drinking altogether to be safe.


• Remind yourself every day that you are creating an environment where people can work and play and do well.


• You are not your job. You have a passion to see good things happen, but whether or not they do does not affect the fact that you are a great person. You are valuable by creation, not by occupation.


• Cultivate friendships outside the force. Go out with other couples not connected with policing. Talk about other things. Go with your spouse to his or her events.


• Don't let a feeling of superiority creep in. Yes, you have a lot of street smarts others don't have. But they are wise in unique areas you are not. Benefit from their wisdom as well.


• Cultivate balance. You are mostly with people at their worst. Spend time with people at their best, doing positive things which contribute to their families and communities. Let the good around you be the greater influence.


• Continue to be bothered when injustice occurs. Don't become callous to being passionate about wrong behaviors.

If we are going to decrease law enforcement burnout these are the simple things that have to be paid attention to.

Police Burnout

Many of the stresses that can contribute to police burnout occur all at once. They don't wait until the officer is ready for them.

I use this policing example to illustrate the need for senior leadership in any profession that deals with people, to pay particular attention to this specialized area of leadership development.

Avoiding burnout needs to be on your curriculum prior to deployment and an ongoing topic of learning and discussion throughout a policing professional's career.

While I may provide leadership and executive coaching for you as senior leadership, you need to adopt that same coach approach for the leaders and staff on your team.

What contributes to police burnout? A conversation with two seasoned officers who were in their 40's gave some insight. We don't pretend this is in any way exhaustive, purely anecdotal.

Like anyone else who has to work with people, law enforcement officers carry a huge burden of stress, maybe more than many other professions. The big difference is that officers often get the stressors all at once.

While much more could be said about law enforcement burnout, here's the initial view from two officers in response to the question, “What do you feel is the leading cause of  burnout amongst police officers that you are aware of?” The fact that they had immediate answers indicates high awareness of the problem. They didn't have to spend time thinking long and hard about it. It shows the reality of the specter of burnout was top of mind.

For those of you leading other organizations, ask yourself what your key people would say if asked the same question.

Long Shifts Twelve hour shifts often mean 14 hours with commute time. Sometimes things like the volume of paperwork and sitting can be tedious. Other times it is active and requiring the highest levels of alertness. But for the whole 12 hours you're 'on'. That means that adrenaline levels remain up all the time and spike during tense situations.

Decreased Respect for Authority Over time, there has been a steady erosion of respect for police officers. It is not uncommon to see young people give cops the finger and display other acts of disrespect.

Attitudes of Other Officers Younger cops coming on the force will often complain about jobs that are assigned to them. “Why do I have to do that again?” The spread of griping seems to have increased over time. “We shouldn't have to feel like baby sitters with these kids. They're cops. Do your job.”

Blurring of Your Own Identity It's often a challenge separating what you do from who you are and who you were before you became a cop. You see your job as your identity. Lines are blurred and inability to always succeed when the public is in need carry over into your view of yourself. It just means you put a lot of stress on yourself and sometimes even hold yourself accountable for things that are outside of your control.

Whether or not you agree or disagree with this anecdotal account isn't the point. The point is that when asked about police burnout, officers can immediately point to what they perceive are contributing causes. It points to the need of an ongoing environment of conversation and support where the effect of these things would be lessened.

That's where the 'coach approach' comes in, making and taking the time for individual discussion with each officer in a climate of non-judgment and with a view to personal and professional growth.

First, it would be valuable to experience coaching for yourself. In addition to your own professional development, you could use this time to develop a strategic approach to coaching the people on your team.

Spending time one-to-one with your team members is not about fixing the weak. It is about fostering and boosting existing strengths and being proactive at avoiding burnout with each and every individual.