At the heart of the police officer’s work is the challenging, criminal or other undesirable behaviour of people. People hurt each other, damage other people’s property, break rules, kill, steal and lie. Seeing the world only from the perspective of evil can make a person cynical. Suspicion and mistrust are considered a kind of occupational illness common to police officers.
The police experience unforeseeable dangers in the field. When you have to prepare for the worst, your mind races. Traumatic events can include violence, fatal accidents, armed threats, crimes against children, the death of a colleague, or personal injury. In addition, the police are responsible for breaking the bad news to relatives when a loved one has died.
Investigators also have traumatic experiences. The situations do not usually come as a surprise to them, but they can affect the police deeply. For example, police officers investigating crimes against children can be exposed to stressful situations daily over long periods of time, resulting in cumulative stress.
A police officer who has been in a critical or violent situation can receive support from a debriefing session in their police unit, from the occupational health service, at church, and in post-trauma workshops.
The professional role and uniform of the police do not always protect police officers from traumatisation. Whether one is traumatised or not is not a matter of human weakness or personal choice. ©Sami Hätönen.