The Police Officers Life

The physical emotional and psychological stresses of being a police officer are well documented,
even if people outside the policing environment often underestimate the effect of this stress.

What is less understood is the impact of the scrutiny that police officers face, both in their
professional and private lives.

The actions of police officers are subject to scrutiny; this is a necessary safeguard on the body that
acts as the coercive arm of the state. That scrutiny takes many forms and can result in a police
officer being challenged in the following forums:
Defended hearing or trial in a criminal court;
Coronial inquest;
Private criminal prosecution;
Civil suit;
Criminal complaint to Police;
Disciplinary complaint directly through the officers Police District;
Complaint to the Police Complaints Authority;
Ministerial complaint; and
Complaint to the current Commission of Inquiry into Police Conduct. While some of these
forums are available to receive complaints for other professions, the nature of policing means
that police officers are both more vulnerable to complaints being made about them and are
more likely to be adversely affected by the complaint process. History also shows that they are
more likely to be the subject of vexacious complaints too. Why is it that police officers face
these sorts of stresses in an already stressful working environment? Here are some of the
factors involved:

1. Police officers are easily identifiable: There is a requirement for police officers to identify
themselves to those that they deal with both operationally (identification to exercise statutory
powers) and in the judicial process. Police officers remain in the community that they work in and
cannot refuse to deal with people or situations that may place them or their families at personal
risk (except in very extreme circumstances). In any smaller town, almost every resident knows the
police officers names. Even in larger towns and cities the reality is that no police officer is
anonymous.

2. Policing involves confrontations: While this may appear obvious it is worth further
consideration. While police officers are entitled to exercise force on others inthe execution of
their duty, its misuse amounts to a criminal offence. This means that any complaint about an
officers actions is, in actual fact, a criminal complaint. This is the way that it is handled by the
Police, placing significant stress on the officer involved, regardless of the validity of the complaint.
It should also be remembered that the incidents and issues that Police deal with arehighly
charged the old saying is worth remembering: No one calls the Police because theyre having a
good day.

3. Police officers deal with people that no one else wants to: Police officers routinely deal with
criminals and psychiatrically disturbed people that are deemed too difficult or dangerous for
anyone else to deal with. That is
an everyday fact for all police officers. Unfortunately, the people officers deal with remember this
long after the officers days work is done. Threats to police officers and their families are not
uncommon, neither is the deliberate misuse of the complaint system by individuals in an effort to
place pressure on officers.

How far will people go? The Commission of Inquiry into Police Conduct has heard complaints
going back up to 25 years from complainants that have been convicted of making false complaints
against Police.

4. Policing makes the headlines: The subject matter of policing means that crime and the people
linked to it are constantly in the news. That is to be expected it sells newspapers and keeps
television and radio stations in business. However, the tag police officer or even former police
officer appears to promote any story far further than the same story in relation to Joe or Jill
Public. This is a reflection of the importance society places on the position, but it also gives an
indication of the pressure that is applied to individual officers.

5. Police officers are never off duty: Police officers are sworn into their role, which means that
they have an obligation to respond to incidents that they see, even when they are off duty
whether this be on leave, with their family or when theyre returning home from an extended
period of duty. Members of Police understand this, although they believe that the impact of it is
significantly undervalued. For instance, an officer who has just finished duty may go home but be
on standby for the next 15 hours, for which he or she is paid a standby allowance of between $8
and $10. The officer may be called back to duty any time during that period which excludes the
officer from having a social drink with family or friends and often has a significant restriction and
impact on an officers private life and that of their family. The fact that officers are never off duty
also affords members of the public the opportunity to make complaints about the private lives of
police officers.

6. Police officers have less protection than any other civil servant: Despite police officers having
the most confrontational and dangerous job inthe public service - they have the least protection.
Not only are they open to the complaints listed above but can also be individually sued by any
member of the public as a result of incidents that arise during the execution of those duties. If this
occurs police officers are the only public servant who will not be issued an indemnity by the Crown
(the provision that protects all other public servants is found in the State Sector Act this
provision is specifically excluded from applying to members of Police in the Police Act).

Taken from New Zealand Police Newsletter, April 2006.