1. Future Cities: Real-World Case Studies
Stress among police officers: from researchers to users
Cristina Queirós1,2 & António Marques1,3
1
Psychosocial Rehabilitation Laboratory (FPCEUP / ESTSPIPP), Porto, Portugal
2
Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, Porto University, Portugal
3
School of Allied Health Sciences, Porto Polytechnic Institute, Portugal
1

2. Scientific publications about stress x Police (EBSCO journals …2013)
12000
1200
11000
10000
1000
9000
8000
800
7000
6000
600
5000
4000
400
3000
2000
200
1000
0
Police (N=16.545)
Stress x Police (N=1.571)
until 1940
240
1941-1960
249
1961-1980
989
1981-2000
3934
2001-2013
11133
2
5
34
497
0
1033
Police studies: since 1881
Stress x Police: since 1915
2

3. Why study police officers’ stress?
Consequences at the following levels:
● Individual (physical diseases, depression, suicide, post-traumatic stress, burnout)
● Organizational (absenteeism, job dissatisfaction, work-family conflict, low productivity)
● Social (excessive use of force, bad public image, low performance)
3

4. Social level and citizens’ perceptions:
● stressful situations lead to misinterpreting stimuli as threatening, and consequently to an
aggressive reaction (Griffin & Bernard, 2003).
● burnout (as occupational stress), more than socio-demographic characteristics, predicts
between 13% to 22% of aggressivity (Queirós, Kaiseler, Leitão da Silva, 2013).
●“The police are the public and the public are the police; the police being only members of
the public who are paid to give full time attention to duties which are incumbent on every
citizen in the interests of community welfare and existence” (Sir Robert Peel, Metropolitan
Police of London, 1829).
4

5. Organization level and job performance:
The main stressors identified are:
 fear of killing someone during policing, excessive administrative tasks, lack of support
from the institution (Kop et al., 1999; Page & Jacobs, 2011; Ravelo et al., 2009).
 the need to suppress some emotions and the conflict between expressed emotions
and feelings (Le Blanc et al., 2008; van Gelderen et al., 2011).
 conflict between job demands and job resources (Euwema et al., 2004).
 coping styles and dealing with danger and uncertainty (Pancheri et al., 2002).
 low salary, hostility from citizens (Pines & Keinan 2006).
 lack of training and the public image of the police (Agolla, 2009; Wu, 2009).
5

6. Individual level and emotional pressure:
●“Policeman as philosopher, guide and friend” (Cumming et al., 1965) who must solve problems, give
support and control public order, dealing with uncertainty, continuous demands from citizens and
critical incidents (Gillet et al., 2013; Manuel & Soeiro, 2010; Violanti & Aron, 1995).
●“Police officers are trained to be in control, and to use their sidearm to maintain that control. Police
officers see people at their worst all day every day. They become very cynical very quickly. They can
become depressed, like the rest of humanity. They can become hopeless, like the rest of humanity. But
when a police officer becomes depressed and perceives hopelessness, he does not cease to be a
police officer. An officer is expected, by his culture, to endure. An officer is expected not to talk about
his problems or his concerns with his spouse or with his fellow officers. He is expected to maintain a
surface immunity to his own humanness”.
Turvey, B. (April 1995). Police Officers: Control, Hopelessness, & Suicide. In http://www.corpus-delicti.com/suicide.html
6

7. Individual level and emotional pressure:
● "Graduate frequently exposed to blood, gore, and danger. Does not unburden these
horrors on spouse. Spouse wouldn't understand. A few drinks with the guys after work to
help unwind. Fellow cops don't understand. Can't trust civilians. Can't admit troubles,
even to fellow cops; would be considered a wimp. Can't trust fellow cops. Drinking
increases. Spouse takes off. Gun is handy”.
Loh, J. (1994). The Man with a Gun is a Cop; The Gun is in His Mouth, The Oregonian, January 30, pg. A24.
● Stress management and suicide prevention:
- “force under pressure” (Blum, 2000).
- law enforcement officers are killed by more job-related stress than
they are by criminals (Ranta & Sud, 2008).
- stress and suicide among police officers (Violanti, 1995).
7

8. What kind of stress is regularly studied among police officers?
● Chronic occupational stress or burnout
Emotional
exhaustion,
cynicism,
reduced
● Post-traumatic stress
professional
accomplishment, agressivity, suicide, “the erosion of the
soul” (Freudenberger, 1974; Maslach, 1976, 2011).
8

9. FPCEUP and Future Cities research: stress studied in real time situations, evaluating heart
rate and stress among police officers (PSP and PM-Porto)using technology
● SCOPE (M. Kaiseler, 2012 – 2013) – stress and coping using a longitudinal design and an
interdisciplinary approach.
● PhD of S. Rodrigues (2012 -…) - stress and coping using interdisciplinary methods with
ambulatory assessment and electronic diaries.
● PhD of A. Leitão da Silva (2008-2012) – longitudinal stress study and personality influence

10. Expected outcomes:
● Understand what are the main stressors and coping strategies used.
● Investigate psychophysiological responses to stress that police officers face in real
world.
● Provide the police force with a report on findings and recommendations for
future interventions that reduces stress and ameliorates individual quality of life
and organization performance.

11. Research collaborators:
 Prof. Joao Paulo Cunha (FEUP; INESC TEC)
 Prof. Ana Aguiar(FEUP)
 Prof. Mariana Kaiseler (Leeds Metropolitan University)
 Ms. Susana Rodrigues (FPCEUP)
 Commander/PhD António Leitão da Silva (Polícia Municipal C.M.Porto)
cqueiros@fpce.up.pt
www.labrp.com
www.fpce.up.pt