Protecting others, compassion, and sacrifice: The toll of disaster policing on law enforcement officers in the United States
| Author | Liz Davenport Pollock,Daniel Augusto |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/0032258X211044708 |
| Published date | 01 March 2023 |
| Date | 01 March 2023 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
Article
The Police Journal:
Theory, Practice and Principles
2023, Vol. 96(1) 83–102
© The Author(s) 2021
Article reuse guidelines:
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DOI: 10.1177/0032258X211044708
journals.sagepub.com/home/pjx
Protecting others,
compassion, and sacrifice: The
toll of disaster policing on law
enforcement officers in the
United States
Liz Davenport Pollock and Daniel Augusto
Northcentral University, La Jolla, CA, USA
Abstract
This study used a qualitative grounded theory approach to explore disaster experiences
of law enforcement officers (LEO)s (n= 56), in two high disaster areas of the United
States. Respondents indicated that disasters cause increased stress on LEOs from fat igue,
extended shifts, changing duties, increased workload, work–family role conflict, and new
operational expectations and challenges within the agency during disasters. Family safety
was also identified as a critical stressor and pre-occupation for LEOs during disaster
policing, as well as an enhanced reliance on critical thinking as an adaptive response to
untrained for challenges that are unique to disasters.
Keywords
agency continuity, disaster policing, family stress, police wellness
Introduction
Disasters create unique challenges for law enforcement agencies and law enforcement
officers (LEOs). Law enforcement leaders hoping to maintain continuity of operations
during disasters would likely benefit from enhanced understanding of how disasters
impact LEOs personally and professionally. However, little research exists addressing the
impacts of disaster on LEOs at work and at home. Our article assists in filling that gap in
the literature. We also provide some measures that law enforcement agencies might
Corresponding author:
Daniel Augusto, Northcentral University, 11335 N. Torrey Pines Road, La Jolla, CA 92037, USA.
Email: daugusto@ncu.edu
implement to enhance LEO well-being and operational capabilities during disasters , while
protecting their most vital asset—the LEOs.
Law enforcement, disasters, and stress
Law enforcement officers are exposed to a chronic high stress load and consistently high
demands (Purba and Demou, 2019) including exposure to toxic environments and un-
predictable danger (Tuttle et al., 2018). Although LEOs most likely expect stressful
situations as part of their job and might show an increased resilience to stress (Garbarino
et al., 2013), stress and compassion fatigue (also termed ‘the cost of caring’) can ac-
cumulate over one’s career (Foley and Massey, 2020). The human body releases cortisol
and other stress hormones during stressful events (McEwen, 1998), which help an in-
dividual initially deal with a stressor. However, prolonged stressful environments keep the
body in a constant state of activation, which taxes biological systems (McEwen, 1998).
Consequences of extended stress can be physical, like reduced immunity and driving
skills, or mental, like impaired thinking, impulse control, and decision making (Gutshall
et al., 2017). Additionally, Cartwright & Roach (2020) found that absences due to mental
health had almost doubled between 2008 and 2018 using data that represented more than
half of police employees in the United Kingdom.
Additionally, high-risk situations can cause fatigue and impact individual LEO’s
decision making and the safety of everyone at a scene (Foley and Massey, 2020;Griffin
and Sun, 2017). Stress is a reality of law enforcement work, but disasters add the stress of
a disaster to an already stressful job, and previous studies have found post-Traumatic
Stress, acute stress disorders, depression, and anxiety to be associated with policing
during disasters (Regehr et al., 2019). For example, West et al. (2008) found that LEOs
responding to Hurricane Katrina had a prevalence rate of 19% for acute stress disorders.
Disasters can also present challenges at the organizational level by causing major al-
terations to agency operations. This can increase employee stress since employees can
view any organizational change, such as altered operations during disaster, as a type of
crisis in and of itself (DuFrene and Lehman, 2014).
Family relationships and law enforcement
Personal relationships can enhance or detract from stress buffering and resilience (Bowles
et al., 2015). Positive and supportive family relationships are well known to be stress
reducers and health enhancers whereas negative family relationships are linked to poor
health, lower performance, and stress (Kiecolt-Glaser and Wilson, 2017;Woody, 2006).
Role conflict can occur when a person attempts to fill multiple conflicting roles si-
multaneously (Adams and Anderson, 2019) and it is a common relational consequence of
high stress professions, like policing (Adams and Anderson, 2019;Tuttle et al., 2018).
Role conflict is also linked to increased risk for poor health, lower performance, stre ss,
and burnout (Carlson et al., 2000;Cinamon and Rich, 2002), and it can occur during
disaster policing (Adams and Anderson, 2019).
84 The Police Journal: Theory, Practice and Principles 96(1)
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