Self-reported police occupational stress: A study of patrol officers in small and medium-sized police agencies

Abstract

This is a study of self-reported sources of occupational stress among patrol officers. 48 officers from 17 police agencies in the Ohio Counties of Mahoning, Trumbull, and Columbiana were respondents. The necessary data was collected by the use of a questionnaire develop specifically for this study. It was hypothesized that patrol officers would cite the organization and administration of the police department as the most frequent source of stress. The data collected from the patrol officers supported the research hypothesis. 81.3% of all the patrol officers surveyed indicated that most of their stress came from the organization and administration. Also, the number of years a patrol officer serve in their current department and their educational level had an impact of the officer's perceptions of sources of stress. Possible implications for the police administrator, patrol officer, and researcher are discussed in the summary.