The Effect of Stress Among Administration Police Officers in Kenya

ABSTRACT Law enforcement is a stressful profession. It is assumed that police work is among the world’s most stressful occupations. Policemen and policewomen are some of the most misunderstood people in the world. As crime becomes a major social problem in the world today, the public perception of the “men in khaki” is very low. Crime rates have been increasing in most developing countries. In Kenya, everybody is concerned about escalating crime rate. Most parts of Nairobi are considered unsafe and downgraded to class “C” category. It is the police force, which is responsible of crime management. The public has a notion that policemen are not doing enough. They feel that the policemen shoots at people and intimidate them. To justify this conviction they give simple references such as “after all was it not a bunch of police officers who nailed Jesus Christ on the cross?” The study used several inter-related approaches in data acquisition. Three level of Administration Police Officer and members of their families overall 54 Administration Police Officers and 6 members of their family were interviewed. This research project serves as a vital reference point for any meaningful intervention in this area. The principle assumption behind this study is that the mission of Administration Police exits to contribute to National development through the provision of sustainable peace and tranquility to all people in Kenyan. For this to be achieved, common sense and sound judgment must prevail. It has however been noted that high level of stress related illness are causing concern across the entire Administration Police department making it hard for the force to achieve this noble goals. Arising from the study, there is a connection between Administration Police Officers stress and job performance. The study indicated that all the officers working abilities are impaired when they are under stress .This partly explains the cause of bizarre behavious commonly portrayed by Administration Police Officers. To minimize or control stress among Administration Police Officers, the administrative decision making process should be devolved, deployment and transfer streamlined, political interference curbed, councelling intensified and above all improve the welfare of the officers.