Abstract
Mental distress is a widespread phenomenon that has existed across human lifespans. Most people experience stress or have experienced it throughout the history of humankind. Given the lack of studies identifying the stressors for law enforcement officers, their mental health considerations have so far been left unaddressed. For officers to remain true to their purpose of serving and protecting, it is important to holistically consider the adverse impact of their mental distress. This study examined the incidence of psychological distress among law enforcement officers and the organizational and operational factors contributing to mental distress. A quantitative probabilistic sampling strategy was used in the study. The Police Stressors Questionnaire (PS), a 40-item testing instrument adopted to evaluate various law enforcement stress elements, was used to evaluate 66 sworn law enforcement officers' stress as it gave the chance to evaluate the life of law enforcement officers and what makes them susceptible to mental distress. The research determined the direct impacts of organizational and operational stress factors on law enforcement officers. There were no significant relationship between mental distress and organizational and operational stress. Although, some factors reflected a correlation to cause mental distress. However, the participating law enforcement agency implemented several programs to intervene when an officer is experiencing distress. A positive, strong, and significant relationship exists between organizational and operational stress (R = 0.624, P<0.01).
