Mental Health, Operational Stress, and Organizational Stress Among Sworn and Unsworn Police Personnel

Abstract

Police work is a highly stressful occupation, and, not surprisingly, there is a large body of research investigating the mental health of sworn police officers. However, nearly one third of police organizations now include unsworn personnel, and comparatively little is known about the mental health and well-being of these personnel. The aim of this study was to investigate whether unsworn personnel experience similar levels of work stressors and impact on psychological well-being as sworn police officers within the same law enforcement agency. In this study, 2,440 sworn and unsworn personnel from a large law enforcement agency in Australia completed an organization-wide, anonymous, online me..