An integrated approach to officer wellness

• Law enforcement agencies commonly struggle with recruitment and retention, largely due to issues with officer wellness.
• Research shows that primary factors impacting officer wellness include workload and staffing issues, fatigue, and mental health.
• Advanced data analytics tools can help law enforcement agencies allocate resources and develop patrol shift models more effectively to ensure more balanced workloads and safer patrol experiences for officers.

After years of decline in the total number of sworn officers, 2023 showed a reversal in law enforcement hiring trends, with fewer resignations and retirements. But for many agencies, recruitment still poses a challenge. More than 70% of agencies say recruiting is more difficult than it was five years ago, according to the International Association of Chiefs of Police’s 2024 retention survey. And on average, agencies are operating at a 9% deficit versus their authorized staffing levels.

Though most law enforcement officers rate their satisfaction as a 7 or higher out of 10, according to Police1’s annual officer wellness survey, almost half said they would discourage aspiring officers from pursuing the field. Officers cited long hours, exposure to traumatic events, and staffing shortages as top issues, and 82% said their agencies were understaffed with little hope for improvement.

That isn’t to say the situation is hopeless, though. Some agencies are working to solve these long-standing problems by exploring new approaches, like adjusting their recruitment strategies and hiring processes. To improve retention, leaders can engage their teams via surveys or open discussions to understand their needs and identify solutions, such as in-house counseling, gym facilities, or peer support groups. Leadership may also invest in innovative data integration solutions that save time, reduce mental load, and support officer wellness.

The state of officer wellness

Officers want to pursue meaningful work, connect with community members, and make their neighborhoods safer. But too often, they’re bogged down by inefficient administrative tasks, time-consuming manual data analysis, and exhausting schedules. Understaffing exacerbates existing concerns such as burnout and officer safety.

Workload and staffing issues

Officers may find themselves stretched thin with long shifts, unpredictable schedules, or uneven workloads. Public safety agencies may lack the resources to track officer activity, meaning officers in particular shifts might consistently find themselves with heavier workloads and tougher calls.

"After all, not all traffic stops, calls for service, or investigations are made equal,” Livermore Police Department Capt. John Reynolds wrote in a blog post for Peregrine. “An incident involving a child victim can be far more stress-inducing for responding officers than an incident involving light property damage.”

Dangerous situations could become life-threatening if an agency isn’t staffed well enough to provide adequate and timely backup to its first responders. Additionally, without easily digestible, up-to-the-minute crime data, officers may lack the situational awareness to fully prepare for every scenario.

“An overworked officer might unknowingly put themselves at risk,” Reynolds wrote. “On the other hand, an officer with a reasonable workload can be well-prepared for each call, familiarizing themselves with officer safety notes and the circumstances of the call.”

Fatigue

Nearly all respondents in Police1’s survey said their fatigue at least somewhat impacted their performance, and 41% felt the impact was significant. Half of officers said they averaged less than six hours of sleep every 24 hours. In addition to mental exhaustion, fatigue contributes to stress-related injuries or illnesses, impeding officers’ ability to perform their jobs.

Mental health

Irregular shifts, work-life balance, cumulative trauma, and negative public perception all take a toll on officers’ mental health. Police1’s survey revealed the troubling results of these emotional demands:

• 50% reported increased anger
• 36% reported anxiety or panic attacks
• 39% reported depression because of work-related stress
• 35% acknowledged PTSD
• 11% experienced suicidal thoughts

Officers experiencing these health concerns may not have the support they need. Only 14% of respondents said their agencies actively support policies that allow time off after a particularly tough incident. And while some agencies offer mental health services, officers may fear stigmatization or repercussions due to lack of confidentiality.

Enhancing wellness through technology investments

Though solving complex officer wellness issues isn’t simple, many law enforcement administrators already have a lot of the raw data they need to identify trends and improvement areas, such as timesheets, calls for service, and unit response times. But with already-strained resources, spending dozens of hours sorting through spreadsheets isn’t a realistic solution.

While some agencies hire consultants to optimize staffing practices, these assessments are typically costly, time-consuming, one-time solutions. They do not allow leaders to continually reassess and adjust to new information.

Data integration platforms empower analysts to identify opportunity areas for officer wellness using information that’s already at their disposal. For example, an agency that monitors officer performance through early intervention systems might use a data integration platform to take its analysis even deeper, revealing opportunities to prevent burnout and negative engagement.

Staffing models

Advanced analytics tools ingest existing data, such as computer-aided dispatch and timesheet data, to reveal new insights. Analysts can access by-the-minute information to gain a holistic understanding of their agency’s staffing needs. They can quickly identify which districts or shifts require the most resources and which officers consistently respond to the most distressing calls.

Peregrine’s data integration platform enables command staff to conduct comprehensive, on-demand assessments of their patrol shifts and staffing practices without having to go through third-party consultants. Leadership can use Peregrine to determine how much time their patrol staff spends responding to calls for service, proactively policing, and completing administrative tasks. Leaders can then use that data to refine their staffing model and shift schedules to distribute workloads more evenly.

Leaders at the Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office (LCSO) use Peregrine to make data-driven decisions about the agency’s patrol shifts.

“We look at workload and the workload that our patrol deputies are doing on the street, the amount of time they’re actually spending responding to calls for service,” LCSO Lt. Chris Sawyer said. “If we can quantify that, exactly what is coming at us, what hour of the day, what day of the week, we can then drive our staffing model to make sure we’re staffing to handle the workload when it is coming in.”

Resource allocation

A more efficient scheduling system ultimately improves officer safety, too. Using historical data, agencies can allocate their resources more efficiently and help improve response times for backup units, which are integral to officer safety. They can also engage officers in informed discussions about scheduling solutions. By involving personnel in staffing decisions and demonstrating their concern for officer safety, agency leaders can use data-driven practices to strengthen relationships and boost morale.

A data integration platform also gives officers access to real-time crime data to ensure they’re prepared for field scenarios. With an efficient, searchable platform, officers spend less time inputting and hunting for information, and more time on work that matters.

“It’s about augmenting what we do,” Maj. Hill said of using advanced data tools. “It’s not replacing humans thinking and being critical. But what it is giving us is the ability to examine a lot of information and focus more time on thinking, more time on making decisions, giving us better opportunities to make the right calls in high-stress situations or in leadership scenarios. So it’s really empowering us.”

Preventing burnout

Advanced analytics tools enable analysts and command staff to monitor trends across their departments and stay abreast of officer activity. For example, leaders might configure alerts to highlight officers who have repeatedly responded to traumatic events.

“We can now understand, in the moment, when and why an officer might be experiencing challenges,” Reynolds wrote in his blog post. “Then, it’s on us as a leadership team to ensure we proactively engage to help them.”

With the proper tools to monitor officer well-being, leaders can enact data-informed solutions. They can create checking-in policies and open compassionate dialogue with officers who are likely to need support. Agencies can then allocate resources toward mentorship opportunities, classes, or counseling.

“Internal training, mentorship, and coaching have significantly improved for departments that are able to leverage reliable data for alignment between supervisors and staff,” Peregrine CEO Nick Noone wrote in an article for Police1. “Supervisors have the information they need to set goals, deploy strategies, and assign task ownership to the right people at the right times.”

Agencies can use their data integration platform as a motivation tool, too, tracking which officers go above and beyond.

“Uncovering these achievements using hard data makes it easier for supervisors and command staff to recognize and reward good work,” wrote Ed Padinske, former Navy captain and intelligence officer, in a blog post for Peregrine. “And when leaders acknowledge and celebrate the achievements of their officers, they foster a sense of trust and respect, building bonds across the chain of command.”

Community alignment

Data integration platforms help agencies align with community priorities, build trust, and demonstrate the value of their work. Leaders can facilitate data-driven conversations with community partners and officers to establish shared goals and track progress.

“These factors help create a culture where officers and staff are exceptionally empowered to lean in and ‘own the mission’ of the organization – and the impact of their work becomes more apparent to themselves, their colleagues, and their community,” Noone wrote for Police1.

How Peregrine supports wellness and reduces burnout

Data integration platforms like Peregrine turn complex data into actionable insights, allowing leaders to facilitate informed conversations, propose data-backed solutions, and enact policies that improve officer well-being. Peregrine provides a holistic picture of officer workload, empowering administrators with the knowledge they need to staff shifts and allocate resources as effectively as possible to improve wellness.

Peregrine delivers a customizable solution that centers each agency’s unique culture and needs. Contact our team to discover how Peregrine can support your agency, enhance officer wellness, and encourage retention.