The Police Personality: Cynicism and Stress

The Police Personality: Cynicism and Stress Stress is experienced by people in a variety careers, but police work is seen as creating unique and dramatic forms of stress for officers. Although it is a common factor in police work, stress does not have to be an integral part of it. Working to reduce stress improves officers’ lives, as well as the operation of a police department.

Part 1. Go to http://www.fbi.gov/publications/leb/1997/aug975.htm, which is an FBI down link to a short training piece about managing police stress. Answer the following questions. 1. Under “treating the symptom, not the cause,” the article lists 8 negative effects of stress on police performance. What is the first one given?

2. Under “Implemented Changes,” the article suggests a number of organizational changes (rather than individual changes in the officer), which have been effective in reducing officer stress? What is the first one discussed?

Part 2. Another FBI publication, http://www.fbi.gov/publications/leb/1996/june964.txt, deals with police cynicism. 1. How does the author define cynicism? ] 2. What is the first thing that the author says about police cynicism?

3. In the second paragraph of the article, the author suggests that police cynicism can be a precursor not only to emotional problems, misconduct, and brutality, but also, to what?

4. What is the first solution the author mentions as a way to prevent cynicism?

Policing the Police The Americans for Democratic Action (ADA) claims to be the nation's oldest independent liberal political organization, dedicated to individual liberty and building economic and social justice at home and abroad. The ADA adopted a resolution proposing that all jurisdictions adopt a civilian review board with certain fundamental characteristics. Part 1. Go to the ADA civilian review board site at http://www.adaction.org/pubs/polreview218.html and answer the following questions. 1. The ADA suggests three conditions that should be adhered to as the “minimum powers and authority” of any Civilian Police Review Board. What is the first? 2. What is the second? 3. What is the third?

Part 2. Go to the site for the review board for the city of New York. Read the history of the current board, which can be found at http://www.nyc.gov/html/ccrb/html/history.html, and answer the following questions. 1. What part of the recommendations of the ADA, above, were not followed in the original NYC Civilian Complaint Review Board? 2. In what year and under what mayor was the Board finally changed, to address this problem?

Police Use of Force While police are empowered with a variety of weapons and weaponless techniques capable of delivering varying amounts of force, officers seldom have to rely on weapons when actually making an arrest. Part 1. Go to http://virlib.ncjrs.org/stat.asp?category=53&subcategory=210. Find and download the report Use of Force By Police: Overview of National and Local Data (part 2) (1999, NCJ 176330). (The report is actually located at http://www.ncjrs.org/pdffiles1/nij/176330-2.pdf.) Open the report and answer the following questions. 1. In what percent of the 7,512 arrests studied did officers “threaten, display, or use” a weapon? 2. Where officers did “threaten, display or use” a weapon, what specific weapon was most frequently relied upon? 3. In what percentage of all arrests in the study did officers actually “use” a weapon? 4. When a weapon was actually “used” in the course of officer making an arrest, which type of weapon was most frequently “used?”

Part 2. Naturally, officers have “weaponless” tactics available to them, as well, to assist them in effecting an arrest. Using the same source, go to Exhibit 4-2, page 33, and answer the following questions. 1. In what percentage of the 7,512 arrests studied did officers resort to some sort of weaponless force to make the arrest? 2. What three forms of weaponless force were the most frequently used?