Abstract

Individual consulting, group counseling, and peer and religious support potentially help police officers experiencing compassion fatigue, burnout, and depression. This research attempted to test the hypothesis that police officers who received numerous hours of one type of support will have lower levels of burnout, compassion fatigue, and depression than their counterparts that spent the same amount hours with multiple types of support. Surveying officers from more than four departments allowed for a wider range of demographics. This survey was conducted using Google forms and was distributed online. Two officers reported receiving peer support within the past year. There was no correlation between peer support and lower rates of burnout, depression, or compassion fatigue in officers. The total number of police officers that participated in this study were n=8. Their demographics were 100% Caucasian, 87.5% male, 75% earned a bachelor’s degree or higher, and 75% served zero to five years as an officer. The size of the departments ranged anywhere from 14 to over 300 officers. Maslach Burnout Inventory showed that 62.5% of officers had low, 25% had moderate, and 12.5% had high levels of burnout. Patient Health Questionnaire-9 revealed that 25% of officers had moderate levels of depression, 13% had mild depression, and 63.5% had no level of depression. The Professional Quality of Life Scale suggested that 50% of officers had average levels of depression and the other 50% had low levels of compassion fatigue. These findings suggest that more support is needed for officers across all areas stated within this research and additional research is needed.