An experienced
officer once said, “In order to deal with hurt children, blood, human misery,
and anguish, [police officers] unconsciously grow calluses over their emotions.
We become profoundly skeptical of the human race” (Bouza 5). They constantly
hear, see, feel, and experience the darkness and evil of human kind. Dalip K.
Das and Arvind Verma agree that men and women in law enforcement do not get
called to happy celebrations, but rather fatal car crashes, domestic disputes,
bank robberies, and house searches. They are the ones who have to pry unfit
parents off beaten children and point a gun at a criminal on the run; they are
“summoned when things get out of hand”(Das 6). Their daily jobs consist of“[flying]
from problem to problem [and] chasing the calls a radio spews out” (5). This causes emotional and mental stress
and changes their outlook on humanity and life. Law enforcement jobs have made
those involved “judge the world from a limited perspective and see everything
with a jaundice eye” (Constant). The writer Colonel Michael Tooley, from the
Police Chief Magazine, wrote, “Over the years, officers tend to develop an
emotional ‘Kevlar exterior’, to protect themselves from the negative things
they see and feel”. The Kevlar is the protective vest that all officers wear on
duty and Colonel Tooley is using this as a metaphor for the emotional walls
these men and women put up to protect themselves. The continual exposure to
distressed people can take a toll on their emotions and police officers use a
facade to cover what they consider weaknesses (Das 5). Their minds work in a
different way than most, they block out sensitive feelings, “numb their
emotions” (Constant), in hard situations to continue to work in them. If an
officer were to put themselves in the position of the other person it would
tear them apart (Ellison 24-26). For these reasons, and many more, are
why officers need to have phenomenal personal control. This career requires the
workers to stay attentive and in a “state of total awareness” (Bouza 68). This
instilled personality trait has become a part of their everyday lives. A
politics and social issues blog writer, Melissa Littles, writes, “There is never
a time [the officer] does not feel compelled to be alert and as the saying goes
‘prepared for anything, anytime, anywhere’”.They must anticipate any encounter
that may happen. Studies have shown that over anticipation and constant worry
causes individuals to have anxiety problems, heart attacks, stress-related
illnesses, and an increase in emotional instability (Territo 196).
officer once said, “In order to deal with hurt children, blood, human misery,
and anguish, [police officers] unconsciously grow calluses over their emotions.
We become profoundly skeptical of the human race” (Bouza 5). They constantly
hear, see, feel, and experience the darkness and evil of human kind. Dalip K.
Das and Arvind Verma agree that men and women in law enforcement do not get
called to happy celebrations, but rather fatal car crashes, domestic disputes,
bank robberies, and house searches. They are the ones who have to pry unfit
parents off beaten children and point a gun at a criminal on the run; they are
“summoned when things get out of hand”(Das 6). Their daily jobs consist of“[flying]
from problem to problem [and] chasing the calls a radio spews out” (5). This causes emotional and mental stress
and changes their outlook on humanity and life. Law enforcement jobs have made
those involved “judge the world from a limited perspective and see everything
with a jaundice eye” (Constant). The writer Colonel Michael Tooley, from the
Police Chief Magazine, wrote, “Over the years, officers tend to develop an
emotional ‘Kevlar exterior’, to protect themselves from the negative things
they see and feel”. The Kevlar is the protective vest that all officers wear on
duty and Colonel Tooley is using this as a metaphor for the emotional walls
these men and women put up to protect themselves. The continual exposure to
distressed people can take a toll on their emotions and police officers use a
facade to cover what they consider weaknesses (Das 5). Their minds work in a
different way than most, they block out sensitive feelings, “numb their
emotions” (Constant), in hard situations to continue to work in them. If an
officer were to put themselves in the position of the other person it would
tear them apart (Ellison 24-26). For these reasons, and many more, are
why officers need to have phenomenal personal control. This career requires the
workers to stay attentive and in a “state of total awareness” (Bouza 68). This
instilled personality trait has become a part of their everyday lives. A
politics and social issues blog writer, Melissa Littles, writes, “There is never
a time [the officer] does not feel compelled to be alert and as the saying goes
‘prepared for anything, anytime, anywhere’”.They must anticipate any encounter
that may happen. Studies have shown that over anticipation and constant worry
causes individuals to have anxiety problems, heart attacks, stress-related
illnesses, and an increase in emotional instability (Territo 196).