e routine stuff. The real danger in police work is much more subtle. We're under stress all right, but it comes from things the public isn't even aware of" (Distelheim 54). Cops are taught to give tickets, make arrests, complete reports, fight, shoot and mitigate all sorts of situations. But until recently, there has been very little attention give to job stress, and the statistics show, the need is there.
Among police officers, the suicide rates are two to six times the national average, depending on the study cited. Divorce rates are almost twice as high as in other occupations and police have some of the highest rates of heart attacks, stomach disorders and premature deaths. While an average male lives to at least age seventy-three, the life span of a cop is about fifty-seven years (Distelheim 54 and Shealey 61). The reasons are many and some are common to other lines of work. They include rotating shifts that make family life almost impossible; frustrating promotional practices; thanklessness from the public and administration; overwork and boredom. Then there are the reasons that are specific to police work.
Among these are peer pressures, as in measuring up and fitting in. A police force is a semimilitary operation by definition. "No matter who you are before you join, you take on a whole new group identity the minute you put on the uniform" (Shealey 63 and Distelheim 54). The officer is now part of a team measured in strength only by its weakest link. Often, and understandably, this pressure demands a "stiff upper lip" in all situations. "That's what we're trained to be - tough, take charge. It's in the code, and nobody wants to be the first to back down. It's like living up to the image of John Wayne," says Dineen (Distelheim 54).
Added to this need to keep emotions in check is the fact that most police are in bad physical shape. Research has shown that after seven or eight years, even the beat polic...