A recent Peace Officers Research Association of California (PORAC) Law‑Enforcement Health and Wellness Brief reveals the alarming truth about the impact of a law enforcement career on those to answer the call of duty:
- Officers are repeatedly exposed to violence, danger, and trauma, leading to frequent stress‑related mental‑health disorders.
- As a result, 83% of police officers report mental health struggles (compared to 20-25% in the general population).
- On average, peace officers experience approximately 188 critical incidents over the course of their careers.
- Officers encounter roughly three traumatic events every six months.
- 35% of police officers report experiencing PTSD (compared to only 6.8% in the general population).
- The demands of long shifts, lack of adequate sleep, and emotional exhaustion all contribute to burnout, significantly impacting officers’ physical and mental health.
- Burnout increases the risk of serious health problems such as depression, anxiety, and even suicide.
- Officers experiencing burnout have been shown to be 117% more likely to have suicidal thoughts than those without burnout.
- The suicide rate among law‑enforcement officers is notably higher than in other professions.
- Suicide claims about three times as many officers as those killed in the line of duty.
- Many officers witness firsthand how trauma reshapes colleagues’ personalities, with roughly half reporting they know an officer who committed suicide.
This picture is sobering but not hopeless for those of us who serve as Christians. Trauma does not have to define our story if we can interpret our role as police officers through our Christian worldview. Let’s examine some of the recommendations made in the PORAC brief and compare these recommendations to the hope offered in Christ.
PORAC Recommendation #1: Expand mental‑health and resilience training
The brief’s first recommendation is to expand mental‑health training and resilience programs, so officers are better equipped to face stress and trauma. This is, of course, a much needed and valuable recommendation. But from a Christian perspective, resilience is more than just a coping skill. It is the inevitable consequence of our union with a Savior who has already walked through unparalleled suffering and conquered death. It’s one thing to engage tools to help us cope, another to embrace the Toolmaker. Christ Himself is the deepest well of resilience, and His power is far greater than our own. The Word of God teaches us how to “rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us” (Romans 5:3-5).
PORAC Recommendation #2: Increase regular wellness checks
The brief also calls for regular wellness “check‑ins” to detect problems early. That idea resonates deeply with the biblical command to “bear one another’s burdens” (Galatians 6:2). The importance of Christian community cannot be overstated in this regard, even within our agencies and law enforcement families. It’s one this to be united by a common occupation, another to be united by a common Father. When we allow the job to become our core identity, we are engaging in a dangerous spiritual distraction. For Christian officers and supervisors, these “check-in” conversations can become a form of pastoral care rather than a bureaucratic box to check. Our questions should include more than concerns about sleep and stress. We need to ask ourselves and each other: Are you drifting from your church community? Are you isolating yourself from others? Are you repressing moral and spiritual questions about things you’ve seen or done? Wellness checks must challenge officers to examine where they truly find their identity, value, purpose, and meaning.
PORAC Recommendation #3: Utilize peer‑support networks
The brief recommends strengthening peer‑support networks to reduce stigma and create safe, informal support. That makes sense: officers trust those who wear the same uniform. For Christian officers, peer support becomes even more powerful when it is shared around the cross in addition to the badge. Believers can bring the hope of Christ into the worst calls and darkest locker‑room conversations. Voluntary, Christ‑centered peer groups – whether small Bible studies, prayer groups, or informal debrief circles – create spaces where officers can confess our shortcomings, process trauma, and remind one another of the promises of God.
PORAC Recommendation #4: Increase confidential counseling opportunities
Another key recommendation is to expand confidential counseling so officers can seek help without fear of career damage. Confidentiality matters, but for Christian officers the content of counseling matters just as much as the privacy. Many of the deepest wounds of the job are spiritual: hopelessness, bitterness, fear, anger, and resentment. When we focus narrowly on physical and mental symptoms, we often miss the spiritual causes. That’s why officers need access to counselors and chaplains who both understand law‑enforcement culture and share a robust biblical worldview. We ought not regard counseling a last‑ditch, shameful step, but see it instead as a normal means God uses to bring hidden struggles to light. Christian counselors are encouraged to “let the word of Christ dwell in (them) richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom” (Colossians 3:16).
PORAC Recommendation #5: Provide PTSD treatment
Finally, the brief urges agencies to improve access to PTSD treatment tailored to law‑enforcement experiences. Trauma‑focused therapies can help restructure how memories are processed; yet, for Christian officers, those memories also need to be reinterpreted inside a larger story. Research continues to demonstrate that strong religious conviction and belief in life after death are associated with lower levels of depression and PTSD. For Christian officers, our temporal suffering is only temporary, and certainly not the final word. Those of us who learn to embrace an eternal perspective react and respond differently to danger, loss, and grief. When PTSD programs incorporate chaplains who understand the power of prayer, the importance of scripture, and the hope of resurrection, they treat officers not only as brains and bodies but as eternal souls.
In the end, the PORAC research brief’s solutions – more training, check‑ins, peer support, counseling, and PTSD care – are all necessary, but insufficient on their own. Trauma and the possibility of death or damage from the job is real, but none of these have the final say when an officer’s ultimate identity, hope, and resilience are anchored in Jesus.
To dive deeper, here is my interview with Frank Turek about the importance of Law Enforcement:
Here is my interview with Bill Arnold:
Also, if you’re a police officer and you haven’t yet trusted the Savior who is the “Caller” behind your “calling,” there is no better time than now. The guidance and protection of God is available for anyone who seeks Him.