Policing in the context of terrorism: Managing traumatic stress risk

Protective service professionals are in the front line for exposure to acts of terrorism. Following an outline of the criteria required to apply a risk management to this aspect of police work, discussion commences by identifying sources of risk. These can rarely be discerned from the event (e.g., flying a plane into a building) per se. Rather, they reflect hazards such as threats from biological/ radiological agents, body handling, cultural aspects of death and dying, understanding terrorist motivation, and adjusting to the legacy of fear that terror events leave in their wake. The role of interpretive processes and organizational factors (e.g., organizational culture and response procedures such as decision making, multiagency team competencies) in mediating the relationship between these terrorist hazards and stress is discussed. These issues are discussed in the context of how officers' experience of terror events changes as they progress through the alarm and mobilization, response, and reintegration phases of involvement. The implications of each for practical strategies that could be adopted by police organizations are presented.