African American Police Issues

When society thinks about police, they often imagine strong crime fighting heroes, who protect citizens and throw the bad guys in jail. However, what citizens often fail to see are the internal struggles police face every day. Mental health care and awareness in policing is extremely crucial to the field of police work. Mental health issues such as, fatigue, burnout, stress, drug and alcohol use, emotional disorders, and the increased risks of suicide can be detrimental to the way police conduct themselves and serve the public. The nature of police work requires excellent mental health, and when officer’s mental health is compromised they can lose touch with their professional and personal life (Kelley, 2005). One would assume that criminal …show more content…
On the other hand, white officers report using avoidance, getting others to like them, “and coworker camaraderie” more often than African Americans (Haarr & Morash, 1999). This is believed to be because white officers enjoy more positive support from other police officers, and strive for the acceptance of superiors. Overall, African American officers tend to turn to police officers of the same race, while white officers reported that sharing bonds with members of the same race is not important (Haarr & …show more content…
It is important for the individual officer to know what strategies and coping mechanisms are going to work specifically for him or herself. The first personal coping strategy is the “development of a dependable support system,” (Waters & Ussery, 2007). This means that officers need to work on having a positive support system both at the station and home. The use of communication and means of ventilating when needed are two more strategies that will benefit an officers overall mental health. If an officer is able to communicate that he or she needs services to help cope with stressors or any other mental health related issue, help will be provided to them, preventing the unhealthy coping