On average 40% of French-speaking serving police officers suffer from post-traumatic stress as a result of their work.
These findings were presented on Friday at the second study day organised by the Université de Mons (UMons) Forensic Psychopathology Service, the aim of which was to discuss how to provide better support for police officers suffering from stress-related disorders.
A sample of 208 people employed by the police revealed that many had experienced acute stress or post-traumatic stress as a result of traumatic events.
This information was presented to a concerned audience on Friday. An initial phase of studies presented in 2018 already suggested that one in four police officers suffered from this type of stress. This trend is confirmed by Audrey Vicenzutto, a doctor of psychology at UMons.
"Five stress factors have been identified: the nature of the intervention (homicide, suicide, accident, etc.). Organisational stress is a factor in working night patrols. Internal organisation, work overload and lack of resources will make them vulnerable," she says.
Conflicting relations with the justice system and social pressure exerted by social networks also contribute to their insecurity.
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To reinforce the discussion, the UMons team invited two Quebec academics, Annie Gendron and Andrée-Ann Deschênes, who shared their research on practices for protecting officers' psychological health in the line of duty.
"We're interested in what's being done elsewhere. We have local initiatives, but the idea would be to join forces and create synergies to improve working conditions for police officers with international support," says Ms Vicenzutto.
A project is currently underway regarding the use of force, such as with weapons. It will be the subject of a final report in the near future.
