Are organisational responses by police forces appropriate to adequately safeguard police officer wellness? A review of the scientific evidence

Abstract

Purpose

A central tenet for safer communities is having a healthy police force. This study aims to understand what police forces should and need to be doing to safeguard police officer wellness by examining the existing scientific evidence on police well-being.

Design/methodology/approach

Drawing on the Scale for the Assessment of Narrative Articles, this paper has adopted a case study approach to examine effective practices and approaches for safeguarding police officer wellness.

Findings

The research presented in this paper yields fours themes, providing contemporary evidence for responding to and safeguarding police officer wellness.

Practical implications

This paper yields several implications for policy and practice. An evidence-based approach to be adopted by policing organisations for dealing with police officer wellness. An improvement to police officer support and prevention of stigma towards those who are suffering from poor mental health. Training for police managers in dealing with police officer wellness. Continuous monitoring and evaluation of police organisation efficacy in dealing with police officer wellness.

Originality/value

Much has been written about police officer mental health and well-being over the past decade, yet arguably, there has been limited attention paid to assessing the evidence and making sense of what this growing volume of research is advocating. This paper seeks to address this deficit in the research and provide a review of the published research with regards to police wellness.

Citation

Beckley, A., Wang, J. and Birch, P. (2023), "Are organisational responses by police forces appropriate to adequately safeguard police officer wellness? A review of the scientific evidence", Safer Communities, Vol. 22 No. 4, pp. 312-326. https://doi.org/10.1108/SC-05-2023-0015