Policing Disaster: An Analytical Review of the Literature on Policing, Disaster, and Post-traumatic Stress Disorder

A large body of research findings suggests that law-enforcement officers are confronted with erratic, periodic, and unpredictable high-stress experiences in the line of duty. There is also an increasing amount of research on police as first responders to disasters and their mental health. Recent high-stress events, like the social disorder generated by Hurricanes Sandy and Katrina, the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks, and the violence at Newtown, created a unique matrix for stressors on police officers who may not have had much training to deal with the associated disorder or much social support to draw upon when confronting the residual emotional and mental traumas that they experienced as a result. In this context, we conduct an analytical review of the literature on police stress in instances in which officers have responded to disasters. Moreover we discuss the extant research related to rates of post-traumatic stress disorder, the effects of PTSD and related diagnoses on the personal and professional lives of officers, and the sources of social support available to them in the aftermath of trauma-inducing events. We conclude with a summary of current research and a critique of what is missing in the literature including attention to subclinical PTSD, proper training, the lack of attention to institutional screening for PTSD vulnerability, and the dearth of evaluation research on what works in disaster preparedness for police officers.