Police believe work stress is stretching the thin blue line even further

Photo / Richard Robinson

Nearly half of all police officers are suffering work-related stress which they believe is caused by inadequate staffing and resources and increasing workloads.

The New Zealand Police Workplace Survey found 46 per cent of staff do not think the stress they are under at work is acceptable.

And some said the level of paperwork and deskbound administration was hindering officers' crime prevention work.

The survey was commissioned to "provide an insight into the health" of sworn and non-sworn staff, and found police were significantly more stressed than others in the public sector.

Although it could be argued that police work was "inherently more stressful" than many state sector jobs, there was evidence of "organisational aspects within New Zealand police that may be impacting levels of work-related stress", the survey's report said.

Examples were given of "numerous" comments on inadequate staffing and resourcing and the increased workload caused by "excessive" paperwork.

The actual comments, which were removed in the survey copy released to the Herald under the Official Information Act, told how the shortfalls added to the stress of everyday work.

It was thought those elements were directly linked to the police's low score, where only 48 per cent thought the organisation cared about them, and 42 per cent thought their bosses were interested in their views and opinions.

It also found that 67.1 per cent were ambivalent about their jobs, 16 per cent were disengaged and 17 per cent were engaged.

Police Association president Greg O'Connor said Counties Manukau, fresh from a boost of 300 new officers, had the highest engagement. The most engaged groups were "on top" of their work because they had "enough people to get on top of it".

A police human resources manager, Alan Cassidy, said the levels of engagement were similar to those in other state sector agencies, but improvement was needed.

On the beat

* 46.2 per cent of police staff experience unacceptable stress.

* 67.1 per cent are "ambivalent" about their jobs.

* But 85.8 per cent intend to stay.

* 75.5 per cent get a sense of personal achievement.