Where Can We Find More Qualified Applicants?

Many law enforcement agencies across the nation have recently reported increasing difficulty in recruiting well-qualified individuals to serve as law enforcement officers. Their recruiting efforts are often targeted at criminal justice students in college, and military veterans. While there is nothing wrong with utilizing these two pipelines for qualified applicants, the fact that these methods are not producing the needed results points to the necessity to change the way law enforcement agencies recruit. This means moving beyond the handful of job fairs that recruiters traditionally attend and casting a wider net.

Are there other fields that contain a high proportion of individuals who also might be interested in a career in law enforcement, but have never taken the time to explore the profession? What career fields might be attracting some of the very same applicants that law enforcement agencies should be recruiting?

In order to explore this question, and many others related to recruiting and hiring for law enforcement, Dolan Consulting Group (DCG) surveyed 1,673 current law enforcement officers from across the nation. We asked them to think back to when they were applying to become a law enforcement officer for the first time. We asked them to imagine they had been blocked from becoming a law enforcement officer for some reason, such as a vision or another health issue. We asked them to tell us what other occupation or career field they would have pursued instead of law enforcement. We did this to explore if there were any common alternative career choices that were revealed among current law enforcement officers. If so, this would suggest these career fields contain individuals who may be interested in police work—individuals who might be swayed to consider a law enforcement career if they knew more about the job and were invited to apply. 

The Sample

All sworn law enforcement officers who attended the various training courses offered by DCG between August 2018 and March 2019 were given the opportunity to participate in our DCG Police Recruiting and Hiring Survey. A total of 1,673 sworn personnel took the survey, of which 286 (17.1%) were female and 1,387 (82.9%) were male. The racial composition of the respondents was 83.4% White (non-Hispanic), 6.8% African-American, 5.4% Hispanic, 1.4% Multiracial, 1.0% Native American, 0.4% Asian, and 1.6% all other groups. In terms of highest education level, 30.8% had less than an associate’s degree, 18.2% had an associate’s degree, and 51% had a bachelor’s degree or higher.

A total of 52.8% of the respondents held the rank of officer, deputy, or trooper, while another 10.0% held the rank of detective. Another 23.0% held first-line supervisory ranks (corporal or sergeant), 4.5% held middle-management ranks (mostly lieutenants), and the remaining 9.7% held command staff ranks (captain or higher). Approximately 65% of the respondents were assigned to the patrol division of their agency, 14% to investigations, and 14% to command administration. The remaining 7% indicated other assignments such as training, community policing unit, or media relations. These respondents came from 49 different states and agencies ranging in size from less than a dozen officers to agencies with thousands of officers.

As stated earlier, we asked these individuals to share what profession or career field they would likely have pursued if the path to a law enforcement career had been blocked for some reason. The responses of the entire sample are displayed in Table 1 below. As this table reveals, there were a wide array of alternative careers disclosed. A total of 246 specific jobs were mentioned, making individual analysis more difficult. The responses were therefore grouped by career categories. For example, individuals who indicated alternative career choices of doctor, pharmacist, nurse, radiologist, physical therapist, speech therapist, and occupational therapist were all grouped into a category titled “Medical Careers.” Once these groupings were accomplished, some trends started to be revealed.

 When examining the entire sample together in Table 1, it is evident that there are specific alternative careers that attract people who have made law enforcement their current career. Despite there being a total of 34 career categories, more than half of the responses were concentrated within only four categories, and three-quarters of the responses fell into the top eight categories. Military careers were the most prevalent, which is probably no surprise as, traditionally, large numbers of law enforcement officers have been veterans.

The second-most common career category, professional business careers, may be more surprising. Fire rescue careers came next, a career field closely related to law enforcement in terms of helping people and being first responders to crises. Education was the fourth most commonly selected field, with several respondents actually disclosing they left jobs they already had as teachers in order to become law enforcement officers. These four categories alone accounted for half (50.7%) of the respondents in the sample.

The fifth top-ranked category was medical professions—another career area where people seek life fulfillment by helping people. This was followed by the building trades, law, and science and technology careers. The remaining 26 career categories combined only accounted for a quarter of the respondents. These results indicate that those who select law enforcement as a career come from a wide variety of interests and backgrounds. Nevertheless, there are notable areas of career interest concentration.

Are there Male and Female Differences?

Next, we divided the sample by sex to see if the responses were different between males and females. Females are underrepresented within the law enforcement profession and if differences were found, they might identify areas for targeting the recruitment of female candidates. As Table 2 below reveals, differences between the sexes were revealed. The top five categories selected by the male respondents accounted for roughly 60% of the male sample. The top career fields identified by the male respondents matched the top five responses for the overall sample with the exception of removal of the medical profession and the addition of the building trades. 

The female responses differed in several ways. One third of the female respondents indicated that if they had not chosen a law enforcement career they would have become (or were) teachers, nurses, or medical therapists—jobs disproportionately held by women in our society. Another quarter of the female respondents identified the business world, the military, and law as their alternative career choices. Attempts to recruit more women into law enforcement should target these career areas, especially college majors and persons working in the fields of education and medicine.

Are there Race / Ethnic Differences?

Many law enforcement agencies feel that they are under social pressure to increase the racial diversity of their organization. In order to assist efforts to recruit more qualified minority applicants, we examined the responses by race / ethnic categories. The largest category in the sample was non-Hispanic Whites (1,395 respondents). African-American and Hispanic respondent representations were large enough for analysis, being 114 and 90 respondents respectively. Only seven respondents were Asian-Americans, however, so care should be taken not to over-emphasize the results for this group. Seven individuals hardly represent the diversity of experiences / attitudes among all of the nation’s Asian-American police officers. Nevertheless, this analysis by race revealed distinct differences in responses across groups, as revealed in Table 3 below. 

As Table 3 reveals, the top five categories for Whites contain about 60% of the White respondents, with more than a quarter of responses falling into military or professional business careers, followed by fire rescue, education, and medical careers. The top five alternate careers for African-Americans, however, has several differences. Despite having military careers as the most frequent response (identical to Whites at 15.6%), African-Americans were more likely than were Whites to identify education and medical careers as their alternative career options. Additionally, unlike Whites, the blue collar fields of corrections careers and the building trades were more commonly selected options by African-American officers.   

The Hispanic respondents also had military careers as the most cited career alternative, however, the proportion of this group that selected the military (21.2%) was far greater than that of the other three race / ethnic groups. Hispanics also highly rated business professions, education, medical careers, and the building trades. Despite keeping in mind that the Asian-American representation was very small, it was noteworthy that the alternative career choices for two-thirds of the Asian-American officers were either medicine, science / technology, or the business professions, which differed from the responses of the other three groups. 

Have Things Changed Over Time?

Finally, we compared the responses of officers hired within the last five years, to those hired more than five years ago. The results, presented in Table 4 below, again suggest differences by era of hiring. A total of 233 respondents had joined the law enforcement profession within the last five years. The top five responses of these individuals reveal either societal changes over time, or economic changes, or both.

While 17.1% of those hired more than five years ago would have selected a military career as their “backup career” option, only 9.7% of those hired within the last five years would have done so. Over previous generations of law enforcement officers, the most recent generation is the least likely to have considered a military career. Instead, the most recent generation of law enforcement officers were much more interested in alternative careers in business, the medical field, or serving in the alternative first responder career of fire rescue. Furthermore, whereas 7.8% of officers from past generations of law enforcement would have selected one of the building trades, this field did not make the top five list for officers hired within the last five years.   

Actionable Steps

The results of these analyses suggest several practical steps with regard to law enforcement recruiting strategies.

Reach Out to Business Professionals – Although most people would not consider the business professions to be associated with law enforcement, no matter how we analyzed the responses the business professions almost always were among the top five categories for alternative career options. Business careers such as sales, management and marketing require strong people skills, creativity and self-motivation—all skills one needs in law enforcement.

Law enforcement, however, provides additional benefits that the business professions usually do not, such as the ability to make a difference in society and greater job stability. According to 2016 data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 20% of businesses with employees fail within the first year, 50% fail within five years, and 70% fail within ten years.[1] Some business professionals, tired of the stress of constantly changing companies, locations, and benefits plans, may welcome the stability of a career in law enforcement. Salaries within the business professions are also comparable to the law enforcement career as entry-level positions in marketing start around $40,000 today, and mid-level business managers make around $83,000 annually.[2] 

Many people employed within the business world may not have an accurate view of the law enforcement profession, or the salary and benefits the career offers. Take every opportunity to inform professional business people within your community about the benefits (personal as well as material) of a law enforcement career. When a business in your area announces it is struggling, downsizing, or going out of business, approach the leadership of the business and ask for permission to make a recruiting presentation to their professional staff. Offer ride-along opportunities as well, so that they can see the job first hand. Many of these business professionals might be surprised to learn what police work is really like, and how much money police officers actually make.

Reach Out to Teachers and Education Students – This was another career area that almost always made the top five list, and was the highest ranked for female officers. Public school teachers must be educated, able to take charge of an unruly group of uncooperative individuals using only voice commands, and resolve conflicts on a daily basis. Almost all want to make a difference in society and are focused on helping people. Nevertheless, a 2017 nationwide study revealed that approximately 16% of public school teachers quit (not retire) every year, with only about half of them going on to another teaching job at a better school district. In other words, about 8% of public school teachers become disillusioned with their career choice every year.[3] If they meet your agency’s qualifications, a law enforcement career may allow these individuals to achieve the life purpose they sought in teaching, while giving them the authority to actually make a difference.

Just as with people within the business field, many working within education may not have an accurate image of the law enforcement career, or its salary. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics in 2016, the national average salary for a mid-career public school teacher in the U.S. (15+ years of experience and a master’s degree) was $56,000, with career-starting salaries still around $30,000 for those with a bachelor’s degree.[4] Make efforts to reach out to teachers, especially public school teachers with less than five years in the career, offering them materials about the profession and ride-along opportunities to see the law enforcement career first hand. Explain how their current job skills relate well to the skills needed in law enforcement. If you have a former teacher (or teachers) on your department, consider using them as the ones to reach out to these struggling, early-career teachers. 

Reach Out to Nursing and Other Medical Students – Nurses have a turnover rate similar to that of teachers, however the vast majority of nurses and other medical professionals who quit their jobs simply go on to the same job with another employer. They are quitting their employers, not their careers.[5] Medical careers also generally offer equivalent or higher salaries than are offered by a law enforcement career. 

However, the medical professions consistently made the top five list of alternative careers and the washout rate within nursing programs is extremely high. One study revealed that approximately 42% of nursing students in North Carolina do not successfully complete their nursing programs.[6] The academic factors most likely to wash out nursing students are courses in organic chemistry that require a good math aptitude, and physiology courses that require the memorization of all the hundreds of the body’s bones, organs, and their functions.[7] Despite weaknesses in these specific academic abilities, these failing students might still make excellent police officers—a career that offers exciting professional work and the ability to help people in times of crisis.

Law enforcement agencies should make efforts to reach out to local college nursing programs. Recruiters should sit down with the heads of these programs and offer to develop a partnership to talk to students whose academic performance in the nursing program has been less than satisfactory in the areas of math and science. Offer a recruiting presentation on campus that targets students in the medically-related programs that suggests law enforcement as an alternate career. Provide an accurate description of the law enforcement career field and encourage ride-along opportunities.        

Consider Advertising Law Enforcement as a “Helping Profession” and a “Talking Profession” – Our data reveals that the strictly paramilitary aspects of law enforcement is not the draw that it once was. Particularly among those law enforcement officers hired within the last five years, careers in business and medicine significantly outrank the military as career alternatives to law enforcement. 

Maintaining the pipeline of disciplined, mission-focused military veterans that transition into law enforcement seems vitally important. However, recruiters should be careful not to emphasize the similarities between law enforcement and the military at the expense of attracting qualified applicants who never seriously considered joining the military. Placing a disproportionate emphasis on engaging in pursuits and serving felony warrants might make it harder to attract the qualified individuals that law enforcement agencies need to attract—the applicants who are currently considering or engaged in careers in medicine, business, or education.

Conclusion

Our findings suggest that there are career fields that can be mined for qualified individuals who might make excellent law enforcement officers—they just do not know it yet. Several professional career fields attract individuals who want the same things out of career that law enforcement can offer. What these individuals are lacking, perhaps, is accurate knowledge about the law enforcement career field and a personal invitation to apply. It is time we changed that.

 

References

[1] U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (2017). Business Employment Dynamics. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Labor.

[2] Workable Inc. (2019). Salary Profiles Report. San Francisco, CA: Workable Inc.

[3] Carver-Thomas, D. & Darling-Hammond, L. (2017). Teacher Turnover: Why It Matters and What We Can Do About It. Palo Alto, CA: Learning Policy Institute.

[4] U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (2018). National Occupational Employment and Wage Estimates United States. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Labor.

[5] Parveen, M., Maimani, K., & Kassim, N. M. (2017). Quality of work life: The determinants of job satisfaction and retention among RNs and OHPs. International Journal for Quality Research, 11(1), 173-194.

[6] Fraher, E., Belsky, D. W., Gaul, K., & Carpenter, J. (2010). Factors affecting attrition from associate degree nursing programs in North Carolina. Cahiers de sociologie et de démographie médicales, 50(2), 213-246.

[7] Smith, Linda; Engelke, Martha; Swanson, Melvin (2016). Student retention in associate degree nursing programs in North Carolina. Journal of Applied Research in the Community College, 23(1), 41-56.

The Need for Empathetic Verbal De-escalation Training for Healthcare Professionals

Most everyone within the healthcare field has encountered verbal hostility from patients, the family members of patients, or other staff members. However, have healthcare professionals been trained how to handle these situations with empathy, professionalism, and tact? While the significant attention directed toward maintaining the technical or clinical skills of medical staff is necessary, the evidence suggests that not enough attention has been devoted to equipping medical personnel with the skills to handle situations involving verbal conflict.

 

A Need for Empathetic Verbal De-escalation Skills

Persons who provide medical care are often exposed to aggression – both verbal and physical. A national survey of almost 3,500 hospital emergency room staff revealed that 100% of these staff had witnessed both an act of violence and threats of violence at work within the last three years. Of these emergency room staff members, a quarter had witnessed more than 20 incidents of aggressive behavior in the ER in the last three years, and 20% reported dealing with verbal abuse almost daily.1 Another study that observed patient behavior within an urban hospital emergency room revealed that 16% of patients (1 in 6 patients) displayed hostility toward the medical staff.2 A third emergency room study, involving 1,572 patients at one hospital, revealed 1 in 30 patients committed a violent act against the medical staff, and roughly 50% of patients were verbally hostile at some point.3

In addition to the emergency room setting, nursing staff working in geriatric care and psychiatric units have also reported that dealing with verbal and physical hostility is common.4 Paramedics and other rescue personnel encounter aggression and a lack of patient cooperation on an almost daily basis.5 Medical staff providing palliative care regularly encounter anger and hostility from patients and those grieving with the patients.6 Even clerical staff working in intake and records within hospitals and clinics often report having to deal with hostility and threats from waiting patients, or the family and friends of patients.7

Unfortunately, research has also revealed significant deficits in empathetic verbal de-escalation skills within the healthcare field. While the healthcare profession attracts individuals with high levels of empathy for their fellow humans, only individuals who are driven and have strong leadership skills usually complete the training necessary to earn their positions as doctors, nurses, therapists, technicians, or paramedics. As a result, more than one study has suggested that the focus on leadership skills and technical proficiency has been at the expense of empathetic listening and verbal de-escalation skills.8

In survey after survey, healthcare staff report feeling ill-equipped to handle situations involving patient (or even coworker) hostility and aggression. Studies of doctors, nurses, paramedics, and intake staff have revealed that most feel unprepared and untrained to handle patient verbal hostility in an effective and professional manner.9 Even within psychiatric care units, where staff are more likely to have received training for the management of aggressive behavior, treatment staff have complained that their training often emphasizes policies and theoretical concepts rather than providing practical skills people need for calming individuals who are angry or upset.10

 

The Results of Empathetic Verbal De-escalation Skills Training

Even without having had specific training in verbal de-escalation skills, some healthcare staff naturally have outstanding communication skills that involve deflecting verbal abuse, empathetic listening, paraphrasing back statements, and offering options that guide individuals to a peaceful resolution of the conflict. Doctors and nurses who utilize these communication skills are rated as more professional by their patients and coworkers, receive fewer complaints about their demeanor, and experience fewer violent acts.11 Unfortunately, these verbal de-escalation skills do not come naturally to most people.

Realizing the need for verbal de-escalation skills training, some healthcare organizations have recently begun providing this sort of training to their staff – with very positive results. One study involved providing first-year nursing students with a course in patient communication skills and verbal de-escalation. A pretest / posttest survey before and after the course revealed that after completing the course the majority of the nursing students felt much more confident about their ability to handle stressful patient interactions.12 In another example, advanced nursing students completed a verbal de-escalation training course just before beginning their clinical placements. Surveyed 3 months into their clinical placements, the nursing students reported that they felt much better prepared to handle their clinical placement experiences because they had completed the verbal de-escalation course.13

In a third study, a group of 110 palliative care nurses received communication and verbal de-escalation training. Then they were surveyed six months later to determine the effects of the training. These nurses reported being calmer, and experiencing less stress, when communicating with patients, and patients’ families after having completed the training. They also reported feeling more confident about handling all difficult communication situations, such as making death notifications. Many of these nurses emphasized that the role-play portion of the training that allowed them to practice their new skills in a safe environment was one of the most beneficial parts of the course.14

Another study involved providing verbal de-escalation training to a group 78 nurses. A comparison of patient violence before and after the training revealed that after the nurses had received the training, acts of patient aggression fell by about 25% over the 28 months after the training.15 Finally, a review of nine additional studies involving verbal de-escalation training within medical settings revealed that all nine studies saw increased staff confidence and improved skills in handling hostile patient behavior.16

 

Conclusion

Clearly, verbal de-escalation training offers many benefits for those working in the medical field. When healthcare professionals develop verbal de-escalation skills, they feel more confident when handling hostile patients, hostile members of patients’ families, and confused patients in emotional crisis. Healthcare professionals with strong verbal de-escalation skills also better manage conflict situations with their coworkers. They are perceived of as more professional by patients and coworkers and experience fewer aggressive acts or demeanor complaints from patients. Regrettably, these skills do not come naturally to most people, including many within the healthcare field. While highly competent in their clinical skills, many medical professionals tend to be lacking the skills to professionally handle verbal conflict in a safe and tactful manner. As a result, healthcare field personnel should all receive patient communication and empathetic verbal de-escalation training on a routine basis in order to improve staff safety and patient care.

Threats to Surviving This Job

Law enforcement is one of the most difficult, stressful, and dangerous careers an individual can pursue. The threats to your life, however, come from more sources than the knives and guns of criminals. In fact, less than 20% of the law enforcement officers who died over the last three years died as a result of an assault. Even after you leave the job, the things you were exposed to as a law enforcement officer can still shorten your life. Recent research has revealed that law enforcement officers still only live an average of 6 years beyond retirement. While the average life expectancy in the U.S. is about 78 years, it is only 66 years for law enforcement officers. 

Just as it is important in officer safety training to identify and analyze the threats posed by criminals, we should also be doing the same for threats posed by sources other than an attacker. Just as we pass along intelligence updates about the latest concealed weapon or be-on-the-lookout (BOLO) memos about dangerous persons in our jurisdictions, we should be passing along information about the other lethal risks that law enforcement officers face. The information below will remind you of the many health dangers you face in a law enforcement career, and will conclude with a brief overview of ways to protect yourself against these many dangers.

 

Law Enforcement Officer Mortality

According to the Officer-Down Memorial Page website, from 2014 through 2018 a total of 836 law enforcement officers died while on duty or in the line of duty. When one adds the estimated number of active law enforcement officers who committed suicide during that same span of time, the total number of officer deaths rises to 1,516 deaths. This equates to an average of 303 officer deaths each year, approximately 45% of which were officer suicides. As there are approximately 809,000 full and part-time law enforcement officers at the local, state, and federal level in the U.S., this means that every year 1 out of every 2,670 law enforcement officers dies at work, or because of their work. 

 

Deaths Due to Violence

Over the years 2014 through 2018, a total of 335 law enforcement officers died from a violent attack. Of these deaths, 251 involved a firearm, 58 a vehicle used as a weapon, 6 bombs, 18 clubs or fists, and 2 involved an edged weapon. Together, these deaths only made up 22.1% of all the officer deaths from 2014 through 2018.

 

Deaths Due to Accidents

Over this same five-year span, 250 law enforcement officers died in an accident. Of these deaths, 216 involved a vehicle, such as cars, motorcycles, aircraft, and watercraft. They involved incidents such as normal driving, emergency driving, and being hit by a vehicle as a pedestrian. The remaining 34 deaths resulted from accidental causes such as drowning, electrocution, firearms accidents, poisonous animal bites, lightning strikes, and falls. Accidents accounted for 16.5% of officer deaths from 2015 through 2018.

 

Deaths Due to Health or Exposures

During this time span, 259 law enforcement officers died at work due to personal health issues, or died due to health problems attributable to things they were exposed to at work. Of these deaths, 161 were due to exposures at work to such things as HIV/AIDS, hepatitis, tuberculosis, or toxic substances, including the toxins encountered by officers at the World Trade Center attack site. The remaining 98 died at work due to a heart attack, stroke, or brain aneurism. Death due to health conditions and exposures accounted for 17.1% of all officer deaths. In addition to these numbers, it is unknown how many officers died in retirement over the last three years due to health problems they developed from their career. Retired law enforcement officers die of heart disease, cancer (esophageal, colon, kidney, and lymphatic), and cirrhosis of the liver at much higher rates than the average U.S. retired population. 

 

Deaths Due to Suicide     

Suicide appears to be the leading single cause of death among active law enforcement officers. All of the causes of death discussed above, when combined, only account for approximately 55% of the officer deaths in the U.S. over five years. While firm numbers are hard to get, it is estimated that at least 680 law enforcement officers took their own lives from 2014 through 2018. In 2018 alone, it has been reported that 167 law enforcement officers within the U.S. committed suicide. As law enforcement officers continue to experience ever-increasing public scrutiny and persistently negative media coverage, it appears that police officer suicides are increasing. 

 

Both the New York City Police Department and the Chicago Police Department, for example, have noted sizeable increases in employee suicides over the last two years. Since 2010, the NYPD had averaged five officer suicide deaths every year – a shocking and terrible annual suicide rate for any single police department. As of September 2019, however, the NYPD had already experienced eleven officer suicides for the year – more than twice the average since 2010. Similarly, in previous decades the Chicago Police Department, a third the size of the NYPD experienced less than one suicide a year. As of September, the Chicago PD had already experienced five officer suicides in 2019. Other communities across the nation have also reported recent increases in law enforcement officer suicides. Suicide has already been a serious threat to law enforcement officers for years, and this threat appears to be dramatically increasing further.  

 

Training Yourself to Survive

Odds are that you already participate in officer safety training to combat the threats posed by violence. You train with your firearm and other weapons. You practice your defensive tactics techniques. You are constantly on guard mentally, observing for possible physical threats. You likely read and discuss books and articles regarding officer safety techniques, but do you do the same to defend against the other (more prevalent) dangers from your job? Do you go to training on officer wellness? Do you read books and articles about how to survive this career and live a healthy retirement? Do you utilize the techniques that can help alleviate stress from the job in a safe and healthy way? Do you practice the techniques that can improve your overall physical and psychological well-being? Do you even know what these techniques are?

There are a number of techniques that have been proven to help law enforcement officers reduce stress, prevent the likelihood of suicide, and reduce the risk of physical and psychological health issues. First, just as in training against violent attacks, mental conditioning helps officers prepare for non-violent situations that still pose career dangers or life stressors. Visualizing potential situations and thinking through in advance how you would handle them improves performance and reduces stress. Second, just as is the case on the firing range, breathing techniques can help lower an officer’s hyperarousal to stressful circumstances, reducing tunnel vision and giving the officer clearer thoughts. Third, physical conditioning, in the form of exercise, proper diet, sufficient sleep, and avoiding substances harmful to your body, can have an enormous impact on fighting off illnesses and reducing stress. Finally, hobbies, interests, and relationships outside of public safety work are crucial to an officer’s physical and mental health.

We at the Dolan Consulting Group (DCG) recognize that working in law enforcement can be both the most stressful job, and the most rewarding noble job, a person can hold. We hope that you take as much interest in your total safety and well-being as you do in your safety from violent attack. We hope that you beat the odds and complete your career physically and psychologically healthy. Below are resources we highly recommend that you utilize to improve your health, safety, and well-being. 

 

Stay safe! 

 

Recommended Books:

Gilmartin, K. M. (2002). Emotional Survival for Law Enforcement: A Guide for Officers and their Families. Tucson, AZ: E-S Press.     

Blum, L. N. (2000). Force Under Pressure: How Cops Live and Why They Die. New York, NY: Lantern Books.

 

Recommended Training Courses:

Peer Support and Mentoring in Law Enforcement: Enhancing Health, Performance and Accountability

Navigating the Officer Involved Shooting and Critical Incidents

Officer and Agency Wellness—Hiring and Retiring Healthy®