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Brandon Duong
Professor Berz
11/6/2016
English
Everyday heroes
There can be many negative effects of becoming a police officer. The
job can be stressful and police officers can have very irregular shifts. There is
a lot a police officer goes through, that may not suit the average person.
Police men and women risk their lives every day to make the community
safe. Their lives are at stake, and that isnt even all that can happen to them.
There are more factors that can make a bad career choice even worse for
some people. Some effects that can come from being a police officer include
mental health problems, physical ailments, and the family life that can be
negatively affected.
The first negative effect of being a police officer is the physical aspect.
Police officers have very irregular shifts. A police officer could be working
afternoons one day and nights another. Some police officers can get eight
hour shifts, some ten hour shifts, and some even twelve hour shifts. With
those long hours and the irregular schedules, this can really take a toll on a
police officers body. With the changing sleep cycles, police officers may not
get all the sleep they need. When someone does not get enough sleep, that

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can cause sleep deprivation. There was a study done to show the effects of
sleep deprivation on 143 people. What scientists got from that is a persons
motor performance, and mood can be greatly affected while sleep deprived
(Pilcher; Huffcutt). A police officers greatest tool is his/her ability to catch a
bad guy; without that, they are pretty much useless. When a person is tired,
that also means that their body is tired. A police officer will obviously need
their body working the best it can to do all the everyday tasks that one does,
and that does not mean being tired and sluggish all of the time.
Other than affecting how police officers do in the field, sleep
deprivation can also affect their weight. Sleep deprivation can increase a
persons levels of stress, which in turn can cause a person to gain weight.
This happens because higher levels of stress can cause an appetite even
when a person is not hungry, and with that causes unnecessary eating
(Patel). With a police officer being sleep deprived and also stressed on an
everyday basis, this cannot help their weight. Eating donuts all day cant
help their weight either. Being overweight will not help anyone in any way.
This can effect a police officers everyday tasks and can affect how well an
officer can catch a criminal on foot.
Another factor that can be effected negatively is mental health. A
persons mind is the most important tool. It controls every aspect of a
persons body, with anything from a persons thought process to their
physical abilities. There is a lot that can negatively affect someone mentally
including: sleep deprivation, stress, PTSD, and even anxiety. Not getting

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enough sleep can greatly affect a persons mentally. Not getting enough
sleep can cause sleep deprivation, and sleep deprivation is a big issue which
can affect people not just physically, but also mentally. Studies show that
being sleep deprived may impact mood, cognitive performance, and motor
function. It is also stated that being sleep deprived retards the brain
(Durmer; Dinges). This means that your brain is working slower. Many things
may be effected like, reaction times, thoughts, and even important decision
making. It will be hard for police officers to make smart split second
decisions if their brain is tired. A police officer has to be alert at all times and
it wont help if their brain Is not working to its full potential.
The most important tool for a police officer or any person is their brain
and their mental ability. It does not help that the processes in their brain are
not up to its full potential and working slower. Police officers need to make
critical decisions every day, and being tired will not help. Also, the job is very
stressful. With their long hours, they have many everyday tasks, which will
not help anything. Studies show that being sleep deprived may make people
more aggressive (O Reilly). Being aggressive is not what police officers
need, especially at this time, they should be able to handle any situation
calmly. Police officers may to deal with people that can be dangerous and/or
annoying. With everything happening with black lives matter, it is not
helping with their image.
Stress can play a major factor into an officers mental and also physical
well-being. There are a lot of factors that can make a police officer stressed.

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Police officers are tasked to put their lives on the line as a job, and if that
isnt stressful enough, they are supposed to do that on a daily basis, this can
lead to anxiety. They dont know what is going to happen and when, and
there is a chance police officers can get worked up about that. Studies show
that more stress was experienced with those who were worried about getting
injured (Storch, Jerome). The police also have to deal with annoying and
disrespectful people all the time. Along with dealing with people, they also
have to do a lot of paper work. They have to write out every single
interaction with a call they have. Whenever they respond to a call, whether it
is something as small as a cat getting stuck into a tree, to a shooting, they
have to report it word by word, and that will not help a police officers stress.
If you think all of that combined is stressful, you would be right. Studies
show that male police officers are more likely to commit suicide than any
other field (Territo; Vetter). Being stressed is not something someone would
want to have to deal with all of the time, and some people might not be able
to deal with it.
Some of the factors of stress can lead to P.T.S.D. P.T.S.D. is posttraumatic stress disorder, which is the where a person may not get over a
traumatizing event they experienced and can have that same feeling their
whole lives. Post-traumatic stress disorder can happen in anyone and no one
is safe from it. Studies show that of the 37 police officers, that were involved
in shootings, that were interviewed, 46% of them showed patterns of having
PTSD symptoms (Berthhold, Gersons). Police officers are supposed to risk

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their lives on a daily basis and will have be on the lookout for danger every
day. Being on edge every day can even cause PTSD. If something life
changing and horrible actually does happen to a police officer, it may be
traumatizing and can leave a lasting impression on the rest of their lives.
Sometimes stress can be too much for some people.
Another big part that can be affected by someone being a police officer
is ones family life. With police officers non-uniform schedules, one week
they can have night shifts and another they can have morning shifts, it can
be hard to also schedule their family lives. With that, the officer may not be
at home at times. With that police officers also have long schedules and can
work up to 12 hours, this could take a toll on an officers family life because
they will be home a lot less to see their families. The most important part of
being a family man, or woman, is actually being home and spending time
with you loved ones. With the effects of long hours, people come home with
fatigue, sleep deprivation, stressed, and you can feel grumpy (Fursman,
Lindy). When someone is grumpy and tired, chances are all they want to do
is be left alone and to relax. This can give police officers less time to spend
with their family. Spending less time with ones family is obviously bad for
the health of the whole family. People need to be around family members to
bond.
In the end, being a police officer doesnt come without its flaws. There
can be many negative effects to becoming a police officer with anything
ranging from sleep deprivation, mental health, physical health, to ones

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family life. Some of these might be enough reason for someone to rethink a
career in law enforcement. This job is not meant for everybody and a person
should be mentally and physically strong to handle tasks of a police officer.
Every single day on the job is a huge risk. So before you want to become a
police officer, you should know everything that comes with being one.

Sources
Pilcher, June J; Huffcutt, Allen J. Effects of sleep deprivation on performance:
A meta-analysis http://psycnet.apa.org/psycinfo/1997-07865-006 (May 1996)

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Durmer, Jeffrey; Dinges, David. Neurocognitive Consequences of Sleep

Deprivation. https://www.thiemeconnect.com/products/ejournals/html/10.1055/s-2005-867080 (2005)
OReilly, Mark F. FUNCTIONAL ANALYSIS AND TREATMENT OF ESCAPEMAINTAINED AGGRESSION CORRELATED WITH SLEEP DEPRIVATION
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1901/jaba.1995.28-225/abstract (June
1995)

L. Territo; H. J. Vetter. Stress and Police Personnel.

https://www.ncjrs.gov/App/Publications/abstract.aspx?ID=78307 (1981)

Patel, Sanjay. Short Sleep Duration and Weight Gain: A Systematic Review.
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1038/oby.2007.118/full (2008)
Berthhold P.R. Gersons. Patterns of PTSD among police officers following
shooting incidents: A two-dimensional model and treatment implications.
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/jts.2490020302/abstract (1989)
Storch, Jerome. Police stress: State-Trait Anxiety in relation to occupational
and personal stressors.
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/0047235295000585 (1996)
Fursman, Lindy. Parent's Long Work Hours and the Impact on Family Life.
https://www.msd.govt.nz/about-msd-and-our-work/publicationsresources/journals-and-magazines/social-policy-journal/spj35/35-parentslong-work-hours.html (2009)

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