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Police Officers

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Submitted By lightningknt
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Occupational Health and Safety Issues of Police
Officers in Canada, the United States and Europe:
A Review Essay
© Jennifer R. L. Parsons
June, 2004 2
Introduction
Police officers play a pivotal role in North American and European societies.
They are involved in many aspects of North American and European life. Officers’ involvement ranges from general, daily, proactive patrol activities to specific criminal activities such as narcotic investigations. Because there is such a wide range of activities involved in police work, there are many health and safety issues surrounding policing as an occupation. Police officers may be exposed to different health and safety risks in their occupation. For example, police officers are at risk of assault and homicide; the dynamics of policing as an occupation creates opportunities for them to experience many psychosocial hazards such as stress, suicide, sexual harassment, and discrimination.
It is important that research be completed on the health and safety issues of police officers in order to identify hazards and identify ways to reduce risk. The failure to identify and solve health and safety concerns of officers has potentially serious consequences for the health and well being of officers and their families. These consequences can include depression, divorce, suicide, and disease. Not addressing the health and safety issues associated with policing may also impact the general public. For example, if an officer is stressed or fatigued he/she may not perform his/her duties to the best of his/her ability reducing the contribution of policing to the community. Police officer fatigue might also increase the potential for a car accident, thus putting the public at risk. This essay provides a review of some of the existing research on the occupational health and safety risks that police officers may

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