Introduction
Military police officers play a crucial role in contemporary society, which
is marked by the increase in criminality. Therefore, these professionals are
constantly under pressure, both socially and professionally, so occupational
stress is something present in their routine.
Objectives
To investigate the stress levels of military police officers in the
municipality of Fortaleza and its metropolitan region.
Methods
This was a cross-sectional, quantitative study, conducted with 325 military
police officers (53.1% men; 20> 51 years old) who belonged to military
police battalions. The Police Stress Questionnaire was used to identify the
stress level, following the Likert scale from 1 to 7; the higher the score,
the higher the stress level.
Results
The results indicated that the lack of professional recognition is the main
stress factor among military police officers (Median = 7.00). Other items
were relevant to the quality of life of these professionals, which are:
“risks of injuries or wounds resulting from the profession”, “working on
days off”, “lack of human resources”, “excessive bureaucracy in the police
service”, “ having the perception that we are pressured to give up free time
”,“ lawsuits resulting from police service,” “going to court, relationship
with the judicial actors, ” and “use of inadequate equipment for the
service,” respectively (Median = 6. 00).
Conclusions
The stress of these professionals is organizational in nature and comes from
factors that transcend the violence with which they deal.