Be on the Lookout A continuing publication highlighting COPS Office community policing development projects

8

February 2019

“This capacity to prepare 

for, recover from and 

adapt in the face of 

stress, adversity, trauma 

or challenge is defined 

as resilience.” 

Development and Validation of a Resilience 

Training Model at the Academy

About this BOLO

The U.S. Department of Justice, 

Office of Community Oriented 

Policing Services (COPS Office) 

presents the BOLO series, 

supporting the publication and 

dissemination of experiences and 

implications discovered during 

ongoing research in the field, with 

the goal of regularly communicating 

these resources to the law enforcement community at large. “Be on 

the lookout” for these field-driven, 

evidence-based resources that will 

help illuminate the nature, function, 

context, costs, and benefits of community policing innovations.

For questions about this specific 

report and the officer resilience 

training model, contact Dr. Sandra 

Ramey, principal investigator, 

at sandra-ramey@uiowa.edu or 

Dr. Patrice Howard, social science 

analyst, the COPS Office, at 

patrice.howard@usdoj.gov.

Introduction

Most law enforcement officers (LEO) 

begin their careers in good physical condition and health. However, 

job-related stress disorders can 

cause many to retire early or die 

prematurely (Waters and Ussery 

2007; Joseph et al. 2009; Ramey et 

al. 2012). Compared to the general 

population, police officers tend to 

have a worsened metabolic profile1

and a higher prevalence of cardiovascular disease (CVD) and risk 

factors (Hartley et al. 2011; Ramey, 

Downing, and Franke 2009; Ramey 

et al. 2011; Wright, Barbosa-Leiker, 

and Hoekstra 2011). Because stress 

appears to be virtually unavoidable 

in the law enforcement profession, 

it is critical that officers develop 

the ability to recover from recurrent stressors if physiological and 

psychological health are to be 

maintained (Johnson et al. 2014). 

This capacity to prepare for, recover 

from, and adapt in the face of stress, 

adversity, trauma, or challenge is 

defined as resilience (McCraty and 

Atkinson 2012). 

1. The metabolic profile refers to a person’s levels of 

cholesterol, blood pressure, and glucose, all of which 

tend to be higher in police officers than in the general 

population.

Stress and Health Status Within the Law 

Enforcement Profession 

LEOs are regularly exposed to 

several different types of stress 

including critical incidents (e.g., 

threats of danger, homicides, death, 

and exposure to accidents) and organizational stressors (e.g., extended 

work hours, shift work, rigid organization structure). A recent study 

(Violanti et al. 2016) revealed that 

the five most stressful events among 

LEOs are (1) exposure to battered or 

dead children, (2) killing someone 

in the line of duty, (3) fellow officer 
8 2

killed in the line of duty, (4) situations requiring use of force, and (5) 

physical attacks on one’s person. 

The study also identified the most 

frequently occurring stressors. 

These included dealing with family disputes and crisis situations, 

responding to a felony in progress, 

fellow officers not doing their jobs, 

making critical on-the-spot decisions, and insufficient manpower to 

adequately handle a job. 

Repeated and chronic exposure 

to highly intense stressors can 

produce dysfunctions within the 

stress response system, ultimately 

leading to a diseased state (Andrew 

et al. 2017). The demands of the 

law enforcement occupation place 

daily psychological and physiological stress on officers, consequently 

increasing their risk for illness and 

diseases associated with stress 

(Violanti et al. 2006). Compared to 

the general population, some studies 

show that retired law enforcement 

officers have a 70 percent higher risk 

of developing CVD (Ramey, Franke, 

and Downing 2009) and an increased 

risk for metabolic syndrome (27.4% 

versus 24% in the general population; 

Humbarger et al. 2004). Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), 

which is associated with a traumatic 

experience (Thomas, Saumier, and 

Brunet 2012), is also higher among 

law enforcement (8.3%; Bowler et 

al. 2010) than among the general 

population (3.5%; Kessler et al. 

2005). Other health risks include 

depression (Lilly and Pierce 2012; 

Regehr et al. 2013), acute distress 

disorder (Trachik et al. 2015), and—

unfortunately—suicide (O’Hara et 

al. 2013). It is apparent that the law 

enforcement occupation remains in 

need of strategies and techniques to 

enhance its members’ ability to cope 

with stress. Resilience training is one 

option to address coping with stress 

using self-regulation.

Compared to the general 

population, retired law 

enforcement officers 

have a 70 percent higher 

risk of developing CVD.

Resilience Training in Recruits

Study site: Milwaukee Police 

Department Police Academy

The Milwaukee Police Department 

Police Academy conducts approximately three classes each year with 

35 to 65 new recruits in each group. 

For this study, the projected number 

of recruits is 120 (approximately 60 

recruits in each of two classes). 

Study design and data 

collection procedure

The resilience training activities 

commence in the last few weeks 

of recruit training. From the very 

beginning of this study, the Health 

and Wellness Coordinator at the 

Academy has worked with our team 

to build organizational capacity by 

learning how to incorporate this 

training into the current Academy 

curriculum. The intervention 

has three major components: 

(1) education, (2) practice, and 

(3) mentoring.

For each session, recruits attend an 

initial educational class 120 minutes 

in duration, taught by Dr. Sandra 

Ramey and one consultant from 

HeartMath.2

2. HeartMath is a series of tools and techniques 

developed at the Institute of HeartMath to provide a 

systematic process that enables people to shift into the 

coherent state and increase their resilience and ability 

to better self-regulate stress, improve performance, 

and maintain their composure in real-time, highly 

challenging situations (McCraty & Nila 2017). 

The class content 

includes three sections: (1) the 

physiology of stress, triggers of 

stress, and awareness of changes 

in the anterior chest area when 

encountering stressful situations; 

(2) instruction and practice on how 

to modify the autonomic response 

to stress by altering breathing and 

heart rate with biofeedback; and 

(3) techniques to improve decisionmaking by focusing on positive 

rather than negative emotions (e.g., 

anger and frustration normally 

associated with stress) to change 

the physiologic response to stress. 

Class discussion among attendees is 

encouraged to incorporate real life 

events and situations.

All participants are given an 

instructional book and a pocket flip 

chart (shown in the illustration) 

that encompass the class content. 

At the class, all recruits receive 

an iPad with the HeartMath Inner 

Balance application preloaded and 

an earlobe sensor to use with the 

application. This application will 

allow recruits to practice techniques 

learned in the class to alter breathing and heart rate with visible 

feedback using the iPad screen. The 

intervention is based on the methodology successfully employed in 

the military (Laraway and McCraty 

2010; Laraway and McCraty 2011) 

using best practices (Linden and 

Moseley 2006; Olsson et al. 2010; 

Palomba et al. 2011; Wang et al. 

2010; Xu et al. 2007).
3

Approximately 10 days after the 

initial educational class, the recruits 

attend (in small groups of 10 to 

14) the first of four 50-minute telementor sessions. The sessions are 

led by two mental health experts 

and conducted via phone conferencing, scheduled approximately three 

weeks apart. The goals of these 

mentor sessions include reinforcing 

course content, improving coherence3

 using supported practices, 

facilitating mentoring among group 

members, and providing a venue 

for recruits to discuss situations 

they may encounter (on and off the 

job) where they might apply and 

use the methods or tools imparted 

in the class. Further, these sessions 

will model benefits for recruits 

to do check-ins regarding mental 

health, especially because they are 

facilitated by mental health professionals. The iPad allows continual 

monitoring of recruit practice sessions electronically by Dr. Ramey 

and facilitates communication via 

email with the recruits while at the 

Academy and for the two months 

after graduation. 

3. Physiological coherence or heart coherence is the 

ability of the heart’s rhythm pattern to become more 

ordered (McCraty & Nila 2017). 

Measuring results

All participants complete 

comprehensive self-reported paperand-pencil measures of stress at 

three time points: (1) baseline 

(during the first week of resilience 

training), (2) graduation from the 

academy, and (3) two months after 

the recruits began their duties 

as working police officers. These 

self-reported stress measures are 

designed to assess both personal and 

occupational stressors, a component 

missing in previous studies. The 

iPads capture recruits’ heart rate 

variability4 during their practice 

sessions. These data will be used 

to determine the effects and to 

measure expected outcomes of the 

training. Biological data are triangulated with the surveillance data.

Approximately three months after 

the academy resilience training, 

focus group sessions are held with 

recent academy graduates as they 

begin their jobs; sessions last 

approximately one hour and are 

held at all districts. The sessions 

are tape-recorded, and the tapes 

are later transcribed. The transcriptions are then analyzed to identify 

recurring themes within the discussions. Conducting focus groups with 

the recruits approximately three 

months after the intervention will 

not only explore how officers are 

applying what they learned in the 

resilience training to stressful situations they encounter on the job 

but also discover other anecdotal 

experiences that may have occurred 

(from the recruit perspective) 

post-intervention that cannot be 

captured by the quantitative analysis. This feedback loop will be used 

to hone and improve the training. 

4. Heart rate variability (HRV) is the measure of the 

heart’s naturally occurring changes in beat-to-beat 

heart rate. While too much variability is harmful to 

physiological functioning, too little variation indicates 

a diseased state. HRV is also an important indicator of 

psychological resiliency and behavioral flexibility as well 

as the ability to effectively adapt to changing social or 

environmental demands (McCraty & Nila 2017). 

Preliminary survey and focus 

group results

In a recent Milwaukee Police 

Department academy class of 42 

cadets ranging in ages from 21 to 

53 years, greater job satisfaction of 

police officers three months after 

their graduation from the academy 

was statistically significantly associated with lower emotional stress (p 

< .001) and lower perceived stress 

(p = .01). For a different cohort—38 

working police officers with greater 

longevity on the job, ages 22 to 54 

years, who participated in an earlier 

similar study in Milwaukee—the 

associations were not statistically 

significant for emotional and perceived stress before nor after the 

resilience training. It appears from 

these early results that the timing 

of this intervention matters and 

implementation with recruits at the 

academy is likely the most effective 

time to deliver this training.

Thus far in the study, recruits report 

important benefits from use of the 

techniques. Reports from recruits 

include feeling calmer in training 

situations (like firearms and active 

shooter scenarios) with improvement in the clarity of their thinking. 

Recruits also are using the breathing 

techniques at home and in their 

personal lives outside of the work 

environment—for example, at the 

gym during workouts and in rush 

hour traffic. 

Our preliminary analyses of focus 

group data further illuminate 

officer perspectives and differences in how recruits and officers 

with greater longevity on the job 

approach community situations. 

Community perspectives about 

LEOs’ role clearly matter greatly to 

the new officers; they wonder how 

their communities will view them. 

However, they recognize it will take 

time to overcome or change some 

community perceptions. Moreover, 

new officers become acutely aware 

that LEOs with greater tenure on 

the job sometimes handle situations 

differently. More needs to be gleaned 

about LEOs’ and correctional 

officers’ perspectives on stress and 

how these constructs impact their 

resilience, perceived stress, health, 

and job performance. 
8 4

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Be on the Lookout For ...

The end result of this study will be 

(1) development of a model to guide 

effective delivery of resilience training 

at the academy and (2) validation of 

the effectiveness of this training for 

recruits. Training and mentoring staff 

at the academy to deliver these types 

of interventions after the departure 

of the researcher is essential to cost 

effectively provide resilience training 

as a regular part of the academy curriculum. If department members can 

begin their careers effectively managing personal and emotional stress, they 

likely will not only be healthier and 

make better decisions but may also 

experience increased job satisfaction. 

The opinions contained herein are those of the author(s) or contributor(s) and do not necessarily represent 

the official position or policies of the U.S. Department of Justice. References to specific agencies, companies, 

products, or services should not be considered an endorsement by the the author(s), the contributor(s), or the 

U.S. Department of Justice. Rather, the references are illustrations to supplement discussion of the issues. 

The Internet references cited in this publication were valid as of the date of publication. Given that URLs and 

websites are in constant flux, neither the author(s) nor the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services can 

vouch for their current validity.

U.S. Department of Justice

Office of Community Oriented Policing Services

145 N Street NE

Washington, DC 20530 e061826883