Officer Wellness

Croton on Hudson has twenty-one sworn officers who protect our community twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, three hundred and sixty-five days per year. Being a police officer is a physically and mentally demanding career and it is imperative for each of our officers and the department as a whole to be at their optimal, for their well-being and the well-being of our Village.

Mental and emotional stress

Prior to being hired all officers undergo a written and multiple-choice test to determine their personality traits, and their psychological fitness for the position of Police Officer.  Candidates are also given an extensive interview by a trained psychologist.  A candidate must pass all written and verbal portions of the psychological exam to be consider for the positio.  Unfortunately, there is no annual or routine follow-up testing throughout the career of the officer. 

There is a “peer to peer” network of trained officers who work as a group throughout Westchester County to assist officers in identifying, understanding, and coping with the psychological stressors of their profession. The Croton police department participates in the Putnam Westchester Peer Support Team and trained staff are members of the department, however the support team does not counsel their own department members and are instead to assigned to other agencies. Officers who have participated in a stressful situation are contacted by peer-to-peer trained officers when needed.  Many departments have such trained officers who look out for situations and who check in with members of the department on a regular basis.  A peer-to-peer network is particularly helpful because fellow officers best understand the stress other officers endure and can best spot and assist an over stressed officer.  Officers often feel more comfortable showing and expressing their pain and difficulties with a fellow officer, someone who understands and has experience with the same stress.  This is an invaluable program and of great importance to the officers and ultimately, ensures they can perform their duties for the service of our residents.  If it is determined an officer needs additional support beyond the peer-to-peer program’s abilities, the Village offers psychological counseling through the Village health insurance program. All supervisors know their officers well and will discuss with them any apparent need for peer-to-peer counseling or counseling by a professional psychologist.  The supervisor will notify the Chief of any potential issues an officer may be experiencing, and the Chief will take all necessary follow-up action.

Post-Traumatic Stress is unfortunately a known and common hazard of police work.  The stress may be from a specific incident, or it may be cumulative from many stressful incidents over several years or an entire career.  Studies have shown that people with PTSD have higher levels of sleep apnea, although it is not clear if sleep apnea causes greater PTSD or greater PTSD causes sleep apnea. Sleep apnea can further exacerbate the negative consequences of a lack of sleep officers often routinely endure.  Some studies have shown that PTSD not only impacts the person experiencing it but may impact the psychology and the physiology of the next generation.

All officers have access to drug and alcohol rehabilitation through their health insurance. 

Officers have a difficult time participating in the lives and events of their family due to shift work.  They often miss children’s school and sporting events, birthdays, holidays, and family meals.  This may put a strain on the officer and his entire family. Officers rely on their families to support them and fortunately, they do. 

Physical health

The Village of Croton on Hudson offers their police officers an excellent health insurance plan and sufficient days off for illness.

The Village offers no physical fitness incentives beyond giving a small space in police headquarters for the Police Benevolent Association to use for a makeshift gym.  The Village does not provide any equipment for the space. The PBA has paid to equip the gym with various machines, dumbbells etc. There is no Village sponsored professional training for use of the equipment or how to best train to maintain physical fitness.  Officers cannot always utilize a public gym due to their schedules.  An officer leaving work at midnight has no public options to work out.  Officers often enjoy the PBA gym immediately prior to or after working for a quick burst of energy.

The Village offers no nutritional counseling / training for officers.  Officers work a rotational shift and unfortunately, maintaining a healthy eating routine is not easy.  Meals are either brought from home or purchased locally with the main choices of what is inexpensive, easy to eat quickly, and can be put down for hours at a time when answering a call and yet still be appealing.  Eating for a rotation shift is different than eating for a common breakfast, lunch, and dinner schedule. Hunger hits at unusual hours, often leading an officer to eat more calories than might be eaten on a regular schedule. Optimal energy without excess calories is needed but hard to obtain. An officer may reach for any source of quick energy to include excess caffein, carbohydrates, highly processed foods, sugary drinks, or sugary snacks.

Weight of duty belt and back pain

When fully equipped, an officer’s duty belt can weigh between fifteen and twenty-five pounds.  This extra weight on an officer’s waist can often cause back pain over time.  Many departments have switched to officers wearing their gear on a weight bearing vest to alleviate the increased danger of back pain from a duty belt.  “A study in 2018 done in collaboration with UW-Eau Claire and Mayo Clinic showed switching to load bearing vests to carry things like handcuffs and other gear vital to their job, reduced that pain.”[i]  Croton has not permitted officers to make that change.  For female officers, the weight of the duty belt can push the belt down from their natural waist, causing continuous pressure resulting in constant pain and bruising on the hip bone area.

Hazards of rotating shifts

Many police departments utilize a steady shift for their officers’ wellness and for the ultimate benefit to their community.  The Croton Police department does not utilize steady shifts.  Seventeen Patrol officers work a rotating every week shift.  Each officer works several 8 am – 4 pm shifts with a few days off between the next shift of several days of 12 am to 8 am, and again a few days off between their 4 pm to 12 am shift.  It is in essence a reverse clock, All officers within the department have worked this reverse clock rotation shift at some point in their career.

A long-term rotation shift system can lead to numerous negative health consequences. 

There are numerous studies and articles available on this subject and Webmd lists some of the potential negative consequences of shift work. Such shift work includes not only first responders but also nurses, air traffic controllers, construction workers, warehouse workers and people in many other industries that utilize rotating shifts.

•  Insomnia.
• The body’s natural Cicada rhythm is disrupted by a constant rotation.
• Cardiovascular disease.
• Stroke.
• High Blood pressure.
• Gastrointestinal issues such as nausea, diarrhea, constipation, heartburn, and gastroesophageal reflux disease, and irritable bowel syndrome.
• Fertility and pregnancy issues.
• An increase in cancer, and an increase breast cancer risk for female night shift workers.  Males may be at an increased risk of prostate cancer and all shift workers face a potential increase in risk of colorectal cancer.
• Depression and mood disorders
• Obesity, which may be linked to the lower levels of the hormone leptin[ii]

An officer’s wellness or lack of wellness impacts their ability to do the best job possible.  An officer working at their optimal physical and emotional health can only be of great benefit for all residents.  

This article was written by members of the Police Advisory Committee as part of the Community Information Project.