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**Mindfulness: The Next Frontier of Battling Officer Stress**
 December 2017 | Volume 10 | Issue 12

Officer safety and wellness continues to be one of the most  important issues in policing. As a result, the interest in building officer  resiliency to stress is growing and has led to major initiatives in most police  departments (Andersen et. al 2015). To combat officer stress, researchers and  practitioners have begun exploring the stress-reducing benefits of exercise  (Gerber et. al. 2010), coping skills programs (Anshel and Brinthaupt 2014), and  automatic stress response interventions (Ramey et. al. 2016). More recently,  however, researchers and law enforcement have begun to explore another groundbreaking  initiative to combat officer stress and build resiliency: the practice of  mindfulness.

Mindfulness is defined as “moment to moment, nonreactive,  nonjudgmental awareness” (Kabat-Zinn 2002). While mindfulness can be cultivated  in a variety of ways, the most common method to achieve mindfulness is through  the practice of meditation (Brostoff 2017). Mindfulness meditation encourages  individuals to remain intentionally present with their thoughts while building  an open-minded relationship with them. As a result, through mindfulness,  individuals are more aware of “automatic thoughts” and less likely to overreact  or be overwhelmed by them, potentially reducing stress, anxiety, and in some  cases, depression.

Due in large part to these anticipated benefits, mindfulness  has been the subject of a cultural and research boom within the last few years  (Stanley et. al 2006; Karunamuni and Weerasekera 2016). IBISWORLD, a market  research company, estimates that in 2016, mindfulness-based business and apps  generated roughly $1.1 billion in revenue (Scott 2017). Mindfulness has quickly  become a part of pop culture as well. Television, film, and media have also quickly  adopted mindfulness, most recently in the documentary *Walk with Me*, narrated by Oscar-nominated actor Benedict  Cumberbatch. Additionally, empirical research has maintained pace.

 Coinciding with the rise of mindfulness in popular culture,  research on mindfulness continues to grow, displaying impressive results  supporting mindfulness-based interventions (Shapiro 2009). Mindfulness has been  associated with reductions in anxiety (Hoge et. al. 2013), inflammation  (Rosenkranz et. al. 2013), and even addiction behaviors (Garland, Froeliger,  and Howard 2014). The literature on the effects of mindfulness on first  responders and military personnel has been equally strong. Rice and Liu (2016)  found increases in mindfulness were associated with increases in attention for  military personnel and veterans. King et al. (2016) found mindfulness-based  exposure therapy to be associated with reduced PTSD symptoms. These findings  continue to echo other research on mindfulness and its positive association  with stress-based symptoms.

Similarly, evidence is mounting on the effectiveness of  mindfulness on police officers. Chopko and Schwartz (2013) found that mindfulness  was associated with less severe PTSD intrusion for police officers.  Specifically, they note “increased nonjudgmental acceptance appears to be a  primary correlate of reduced posttraumatic stress symptoms among . . . police  officers” (7). Kaplan et al. (2017) found that increased mindfulness was  related to increased resilience and decreased burnout among police officers. When  utilizing a Mindfulness-Based Resilience Training program on officers,  Christopher et al (2016) found self-reported mindfulness to be associated with increased  resilience and emotional intelligence and decreased negative health outcomes  among police officers.

 Local police departments have been active partners in the  mindfulness movement, as well. For instance, Hillsboro  (OR) Police Department Lieutenant Richard Goerling believes that  mindfulness could be a critical tool in dealing with officer safety and  wellness. He states, “. . . awareness and compassion are the gateway to  performance, not just for police officers but any human being, but especially  for police officers” (Kelly 2017). Sylvia Moir, Chief of the Tempe Police Department has also implemented a mindfulness-based program as a part of officer training.  According to Moir, “In policing, it’s essential that we respond. We don’t react.  . . . Without a doubt I think the [meditation] practice shows promise, getting  us to be present, not take triggers, not take the bait that makes us react and  if the practice can get us to see the perspective of another to enhance our  compassion, then I think it does lend itself to broader application in policing”  (Effron 2017). These police departments recognize locally what research has  been finding globally. The practice of mindfulness may not be a cure-all, but  the evidence is promising and, at a minimum, should be considered for  high-stress occupations such as policing.

Today, mindfulness research is continuing to grow through  increasingly sophisticated methods, such as conducting fMRI brain scans to show  how the brain is changing because of mindfulness-based practices. More and more  companies are also adopting mindfulness-based programs; most notably, Google’s *Search Inside Yourself Leadership Institute*.  However, and most encouragingly, police departments and the field of law  enforcement continue to be thought leaders in embracing this intervention as a  potential best practice. As a result, police chiefs have been partnering with  mindfulness-based research organizations and even attending conferences to  further their practice and implementation into their own departments. And while  the practice of mindfulness is not a “silver bullet” for officer stress, it  could be a potentially valuable tool in the fight going forward. 

John H. Kim              Social Science Analyst (COPS)              Contributing Writer

**References:**              Andersen, Judith P.,  Konstantinos Papazoglou, Bengt B. Arnetz, and Peter Collins. 2015. “Mental  Preparedness as a Pathway to Police Resilience and Optimal Functioning in the  Line of Duty.” *International Journal of  Emergency Mental Health and Human Resilience* 17 (3): 624-627.

 Anshel, Mark H., and Thomas  M. Brinthaupt. 2014. “An Exploratory Study on the Effect of an  Approach-Avoidance Coping Program on Perceived Stress and Physical Energy among  Police Officers.” *Psychology* 5 (7): 676.

 Brostoff, Teresa K. 2017.  “Meditation for Law Students: Mindfulness Practice as Experiential  Learning.” *Law and Psychology Review* 41, 159-171.

Chopko, Brian A., and Robert  C. Schwartz. 2013. “The Relation between Mindfulness and Posttraumatic  Stress Symptoms among Police Officers.”*Journal of Loss and Trauma* 18 (1): 1-9.

 Christopher, Michael S.,  Richard J. Goerling, Brant S. Rogers, Matthew Hunsinger, Greg Baron, Aaron L.  Bergman, and David T. Zava. 2016. “A Pilot Study Evaluating the  Effectiveness of a Mindfulness-Based Intervention on Cortisol Awakening  Response and Health Outcomes among Law Enforcement Officers.” *Journal  of police and criminal psychology* 31 (1): 15-28.

Effron, Lauren .2017.  “Arizona Police Chief Says Meditation Should Be a Key Piece of Officer  Development.” ABC News. March 8, 2017. http://abcnews.go.com/Health/arizona-police-chief-meditation-key-piece-officer-development/story?id=45966480.

Garland, Eric, Brett  Froeliger, and Matthew Howard. 2014. “Mindfulness Training Targets  Neurocognitive Mechanisms of Addiction at the Attention-Appraisal-Emotion  Interface.” *Frontiers in Psychiatry* 4: 173.

Gerber, Markus, Michael  Kellmann, Tim Hartmann, and Uwe Pühse. 2010. “Do Exercise and Fitness  Buffer against Stress among Swiss Police and Emergency Response Service Officers?.” *Psychology of Sport and Exercise* 11 (4): 286-294.

Hoge, Elizabeth A., Eric  Bui, Luana Marques, Christina A. Metcalf, Laura K. Morris, Donald J. Robinaugh,  John J. Worthington, Mark H. Pollack, and Naomi M. Simon. 2013.  “Randomized Controlled Trial of Mindfulness Meditation for Generalized Anxiety  Disorder: Effects on Anxiety and Stress Reactivity.” *The Journal of  Clinical Psychiatry* 74 (8): 786.

Kabat-Zinn, Jon. 2002. “Meditation  Is about Paying Attention.” *Reflections*3 (3): 68-71.

Kaplan, Joshua Benjamin,  Aaron L. Bergman, Michael Christopher, Sarah Bowen, and Matthew Hunsinger. 2017.  “Role of Resilience in Mindfulness Training for First Responders.” *Mindfulness* 2017: 1-8.

Karunamuni, Nandini, and  Rasanjala Weerasekera. 2017. “Theoretical Foundations to Guide Mindfulness  Meditation: A Path to Wisdom.” *Current Psychology*2017: 1-20.

Kelly, Kevin. 2017.  “Menlo Park Police Officers will be Trained to Mellow.” *The Mercury News*. January 31, 2017. http://www.mercurynews.com/2017/01/26/menlo-park-police-officers-will-be-trained-to-mellow/.

King, Anthony P., Stefanie  R. Block, Rebecca K. Sripada, Sheila AM Rauch, Katherine E. Porter, Todd K.  Favorite, Nicholas Giardino, and Israel Liberzon. 2016. “A Pilot Study of Mindfulness-Based  Exposure Therapy in OEF/OIF Combat Veterans with PTSD: Altered Medial Frontal  Cortex and Amygdala Responses in Social-Emotional Processing.” *Frontiers  in Psychiatry* 7.

Rice, Valerie J., and Baoxia  Liu. 2017. “The Relationship Between Sustained Attention and Mindfulness  Among US Active Duty Service Members and Veterans.” *Advances in Social  and Occupational Ergonomics.* (Basel: Springer International Publishing)  397-407.              Scott, Bartie. 2017. “Why  Meditation and Mindfulness Training Is One of the Best Industries for Starting  a Business in 2017.” *Inc.* March 1, 2017. https://www.inc.com/bartie-scott/best-industries-2017-meditation-and-mindfulness-training.html.

Shapiro, Shauna L. 2009.  “The Integration of Mindfulness and Psychology.” *Journal of  Clinical Psychology* 65 (6): 555-560.

Stanley, Sheila, Lorraine R.  Reitzel, LaRicka R. Wingate, Kelly C. Cukrowicz, Elizabeth N. Lima, and Thomas  E. Joiner. 2006. “Mindfulness: a Primrose Path for Therapists Using Manualized  Treatments?.” *Journal of Cognitive Psychotherapy* 20 (3): 327-335.

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