Citation

Reingle Gonzalez JM, Jetelina KK, Bishopp SA, Livingston MD, Perez RA, Gabriel KP. Policing (Bradford) 2019; 42(4): 701-710.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2019, Emerald Group Publishing)

DOI

10.1108/PIJPSM-12-2018-0184

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

PURPOSE: Law enforcement officers (LEOs) suffer from premature mortality, intentional and unintentional injury, suicide and are at an increased risk for several non-communicable disease outcomes including cardiovascular disease and several cancers, compared to those employed in other occupations. Repeated exposure to stressful and traumatic stimuli is a possible mechanism driving these adverse health outcomes among LEOs. To better identify the sources of these health problems, the purpose of this paper is to determine the feasibility of conducting a cohort study using physiological measures of stress (e.g. heart rate) with LEOs; perceptions of the FitBit device, including LEO buy-in and attitudes associated with the protocol.

DESIGN/METHODOLOGY/APPROACH: Data were collected from ten recent graduates of the Dallas Police Training Academy.

FINDINGS: Results suggest that officer buy-in and protocol compliance was high. Officers were eager to participate in this study, and completion of weekly surveys was 100 percent. Minute-level missing data from wearable devices was relatively low (25 percent), and 90 percent of participants wore the FitBit devices on more than 90 percent of study days.

ORIGINALITY/VALUE: Results from this study suggest that wearable physiological devices can be effectively used in law enforcement populations to measure stress. © 2019, Emerald Publishing Limited.

Language: en

Keywords

Stress; Policing; Occupational health; Heart rate; Physiological measures