Perceptual Variations of Stressors Among Police Officers During an Era of Decreasing Crime

The historic decrease in the crime rate reported in many U.S. cities over the past decade provides an opportunity to determine whether police officers would rank other stressors higher when the ubiquitous crime factor is proportionally minimized. This study tests the assumption that law enforcement officers would experience lower levels of stress during an extended period of relatively low crime rates and predominantly report external, non–crime–related factors as primary stressors. Stressor sources were measured from a sample of 1,022 police officers within a major northeastern U.S. city during an era of significantly declining crime rates. A description and mean ranking of organizational, job-related, and external stressors were presented for the sample, as were representative ranges of job tenure, rank, gender, race, work shift, and assignment areas. The results indicated generally moderate levels of stress and some distinctions in the variable categories while affirming the significance of select stressors identified within the literature.