Police Officer Stress Creates Significant Health Risks Compared to General Population, Study Finds
John Violanti, Research Associate Professor, Department of Social and Preventive Medicine
Published July 9, 2012 This content is archived.
Landmark study of police officers in Buffalo, N.Y., reveals increased incidence of chronic disease, finds suicides higher among those still working
The daily psychological stresses that police officers experience in their work put them at significantly higher risk than the general population for a host of long-term physical and mental health effects. That's the overall finding of a major scientific study of the Buffalo Police Department called Buffalo Cardio-Metabolic Occupational Police Stress (BCOPS) conducted over five years by a University at Buffalo researcher.
"This is one of the first police population-based studies to test the association between the stress of being a police officer and psychological and health outcomes," says John Violanti, PhD, professor of social and preventive medicine in the UB School of Public Health and Health Professions, and principal investigator on the study, funded by the National Institutes of Health.