Why We Do This

It’s no secret that a law enforcement career places unique stressors on cops. We’re good at what we do because we can exist on Adrenalin and caffeine; we’re doggedly determined, fiercely loyal, and always “in control.”

We remain stoic and professional in the face of the senseless tragedy we view daily. Despite the low pay, long hours, and no “normal” life on holidays and weekends, we report for work as scheduled because the battle of good versus evil rages on.

We know that without us, anarchy would rule society. Only a cop understands that this is who we are, not just what we do. We really are 24/7. The bottom line is that what makes us good at our jobs does take its toll on the rest of our lives.

We’re taught to “keep it all in” from the first day at the academy, to protect our families, because society just doesn’t understand the cop sub-culture and because it’s just not “police” to show emotion. Every day, police face high-stress events – situations that hold the potential to invoke powerful emotions which have the potential to interfere with our ability to function, either at the scene or later. Shootings, accidents, use of physical force, injuries, seeing injured victims (especially children), deaths (especially line-of-duty-deaths), suicides (especially police suicides), sudden health problems, and the myriad of tragic events that we witness happening to others (and ourselves!) daily are all examples of critical incidents. But sometimes, our “survival techniques” are self-destructive.