Custody Officers' Stress-Related Working ... - Police Federation

Custody Officers’ Stress-Related
Working Conditions and Health
Dr Jonathan Houdmont
University of Nottingham
Dr Ray Randall
Loughborough University

Background
• Lack of data on custody officers’ working
conditions and implications for health and
performance
• Autumn 2011 – West Midlands Police
Federation custody project
• Autumn 2012 – Sergeants’ Central Committee,
Police Federation of England and Wales.

Survey Response
• 930 completed questionnaires (January 2013)
• Responses from 39 forces – nationally
representative (43% response rate)
Private
company
owned
2%
Custody Suite Type
PFI
13%
Police
owned
85%

Key Results:
Stress-Related Working Conditions

Stress-related Working Conditions [1]
• Seven of the 26 issues identified in the West Midlands Police study were identified
as problematic nationally:
1. High pressure peak times occurring with increased frequency (73%)
2. Irregular breaks (70%)
3. Senior managers fail to understand the pressures of custody work (68%)
4. Inadequate facilities for breaks (64%)
5. Prisoners take advantage of their rights (57%)
6. Intense pace of work (53%)
7. Understaffing (53%)

Stress-related Working Conditions [2]
• Six of the HSE priority areas were problematic:
1. Insufficient consultation about change at work (76%)
2. Lack of choice in deciding what I do at work (74%)
3. Lack of supportive feedback on work (65%)
4. Lack of support through emotionally demanding work (57%)
5. Lack of clarity over how changes made at work will work out in practice (53%)
6. Insufficient opportunities to question managers about change at work (51%)

Work-Related Stress
• HSE measure: “In general, how do you find your job?”
– Not at all stressful, mildly stressful, moderately stressful, very stressful, extremely stressful
45.00%
40.00%
35.00%
30.00%
25.00%
20.00%
15.00%
10.00%
5.00%
38.6% 40.0%
33.7%
15.5%
Officers who
presented with a
case of work-related
stress were 2.2
times more likely to
express an intention
to leave policing.
0.00%
Current study
(N = 930)
West Midlands
Police Custody
Officers 2011 (N
= 76)
West Midland
Police 2012 (N =
2,026)
UK Working
Population
2010 (HSE
figures)

Key Results:
Individual Health

Psychological Distress
(Anxiety and Depression)
Prevalence of High Psychological Distress
2013: CURRENT STUDY
1999: 593 UK police officers
40%
56%
Where a clinical
equivalence
threshold is applied
43% of custody
officers present
with symptoms
indicative of mild
psychiatric disorder
1993: 497 UK police officers
20%
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60%

Psychological Distress: Implications
• Officers reporting high psychological distress were 2.5
times more likely to report a desire to quit their policing
career.

Burnout (emotional exhaustion)
• 61% of respondents above the threshold for ‘high
emotional exhaustion’
Normative average score
21.4
West Midlands Police Officers 2012 (N =
2,026 )
26.9
West Midlands Police custody officers
2011 (N = 76)
26.7
Current study
32.6
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35

Emotional Exhaustion: Implications
• Officers reporting high emotional exhaustion were 3.3
times more likely to report a desire to quit their policing
career.

Key Results:
Organisational Health

Intention To Leave
I would quit immediately if I could
just find something else to do
5.6%
43% would like to
leave policing
I would take almost any other job
with similar earnings and benefits
I would like to change my job and
stop being a police officer
I would like to change my posting
but remain a police officer
11.2%
25.7%
24%
1 in 4 would like
to leave custody
but remain a
police officer
I can't think of a job I would prefer
I would not change from being a
police officer for anything in the
world
10%
23.5%
0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30%
Strong links
between stressor
exposures and
intention to leave

Job Performance: In-Role Behaviour
Australian police officers 2012 (N = 640
86.15
West Midlands Police Officers 2012 (N = 2,026
)
82.34
Current study
86.17
80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87
Performance (max possible score = 100)

Job Performance: Organisational
Citizenship Behaviours - Colleagues
Australian police officers 2009 (N = 582)
81.23
Australian police officers 2012 (N = 640
80.38
West Midlands Police Officers 2012 (N =
2,026 )
79.99
Current study
74.46
70 72 74 76 78 80 82
Performance (max possible score = 100)

Key Results:
Shift Patterns and Health

Shift Patterns and Health
Shift Pattern and Psychological Distress (Symptoms of Anxiety and Depression)
6 on 4 off (n = 339)
3.46
8 hour, days off varied (n = 64)
4.53
4 on 4 off (n = 171)
4.08
0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5 4 4.5 5
Psychological distress score (out of a maximum possible of 12)

Shift Patterns and Health
Shift Pattern and Burnout (Emotional Exhaustion)
6 on 4 off (n = 339)
31.04
8 hour, days off varied (n = 64)
33.85
4 on 4 off (n = 171)
34.69
29 30 31 32 33 34 35
Burnout score (out of a maximum possible of 63)

Conclusions
• Clear evidence of pathway linking stressor
exposure to intention to leave and
performance decrements via officers’ health.
Stressor
Exposure
Impairment to
individual
health
Impairment to
organisational
health

Key Results:
Benefits of Custody Work

Rumination (Thinking About Work)
"When I leave work I continue to
worry about work problems"
"During my free time I often worry
about my work"
Yes
41%
No
59%
Yes
37%
No
63%

Work-Life Conflict
35.00%
How often does your job interfere with your
responsibilities at home?
30.00%
25.00%
20.00%
15.00%
10.00%
5.00%
0.00%
Almost never or
never
2 3 4 Almost always or
always

Next Steps
• Repeat survey January 2014 in order to check
stability of relationships
• Presentation to Police Federation 2014
conference and submission of final report
(May 2014)

• Further Information
Thank You
• Houdmont, J. (2013). UK police custody officers’ psychosocial
hazard exposures and burnout. Policing: An International
Journal of Police Strategies and Management.
• Contact
– Jonathan.houdmont@nottingham.ac.uk
– http:jonathanhoudmont.com