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Officer Health

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New Wellness Center: Stress & Substance Abuse Therapy For Cops Only

An innovative medical treatment facility, exclusively for LEOs burdened by substance abuse, stress overload, marital problems, or other wellness-threatening issues, is scheduled to open within the next few months, not far from the Force Science Training headquarters in a Chicago suburb. Dubbed St. Michael’s House, after the archangel patron of warriors, the special, nondenominational facility...
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4 Studies Highlight Why Your Physical Fitness Matters

A recent online research roundup published by the National Strength & Conditioning Assn. adds to the ever-growing evidence that physical fitness matters in practical ways to public safety personnel. The report is included in the group’s quarterly journal, Tactical Strength & Conditioning, and was compiled by Dr. Rod Pope, associate professor of physiotherapy at Bond...
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Call To Action In The “Battle Of The Bulge”

Wisecracks about cops and donuts are annoying, but how far are they from the truth? Sgt. Mark St. Hilaire, one of a half dozen instructors who spoke on wellness topics at the latest ILEETA annual training conference, cites two pertinent items from the news of late: In the US, more than 40% of police officers,...
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Tests On Controlling Resistant Suspects Show Need For Fitness Scrutiny

Researchers at a police college in Norway have confirmed what intuitively seems obvious: an officer’s fitness level correlates significantly with his or her ability to control resistant subjects during arrest. “[O]ne of the most critical and stressful physical tasks” of police work is “getting control of a struggling suspect,” writes Thomas Dillern of the Norwegian...
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Research Findings Mark The Dismal Toll Of Police Stress

“Policing,” writes Dr. John Violanti, one of the leading researchers of law enforcement stress, “is psychologically stressful work filled with danger, high demands, ambiguity in encounters, human misery, and exposure to death.” And that may be the least of its dark side. “Law enforcement is one of a number of often stressful professions that has...
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Feeling Tired Isn’t The Only Bad Result Of Too Few Zzzzzzzzs

Negative evidence about sleep deprivation continues to pile up. Consider these new research findings: University of Iowa researchers report that if you’re averaging less than six hours sleep a night, you’re more susceptible to chronic fatigue and high-risk health problems, including obesity, diabetes, and heart disease. Studying 85 male officers from three police agencies in...
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AELE Analysis: When Force Against The Mentally Disturbed Is Justified

The scenario is one that’s often in the headlines and ultimately in the courts: A distraught and frightened family calls for help in controlling a mentally disturbed or suicidal relative. When cops respond, the confrontation escalates and the subject ends up injured or dead from police use of force. The family claims the force was...
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New Study Confirms Health & Safety Dangers Of LEO’s Poor Sleep

Union reps, trainers, and human behavior experts who have been campaigning to get police fatigue recognized and addressed as a critical professional and public safety problem have been given an armory of ammunition for their battle by a comprehensive and complex new study of cops and sleeping disorders. A team of 13 sleep specialists, headed...
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Anti-Fatigue Measures Could Cut Cop Deaths 15%

A leading sleep researcher argues that officer deaths from vehicle accidents and violent attacks could be cut by at least 15%—“a pretty darned conservative estimate”—if the problem of police fatigue was seriously addressed. As it is, he claims, a toxic mix of poor personal habits and arbitrary agency policies is creating a “large pool of...
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New Study Targets Health Problems, Early Deaths Of LEOs With Unique Peer-Group Approach

A prominent medical researcher has launched a landmark study he hopes will change the grim facts that LEOs have a higher incidence of illness and death related to cardiovascular disease than the general population, and suffer unnecessary musculoskeletal injuries and disabilities. With the help of 2 sheriff’s offices and 2 police departments in the Pacific...
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