Some police officers will always work in a dangerous, stressful environ-
ment, where they are expected to respond to emergency situations of many
kinds, and where handguns and other lethal firearms are a part of their
environment. Cops are not always welcome in certain neighborhoods,
because they may be a threat to some of the profitable illegal activities that
are carried out there, or, as in some communities, they have come to be
seen as an organization that is hostile to neighborhood youth and to the
neighborhood itself.

Most urban police officers wear bulletproof vests, an indication of their
anxiety. When police officers patrol hostile neighborhoods, there is always a
concern for safety, and the scene is a dominant factor. Drug dealers operate in
the open, often under the eyes of local residents, and they spread insecurity
and fear. Drug dealers have taken over in some neighborhoods, and only when
the police regain control can a secure environment be achieved. Residents
should not have to endure the indignity of living in such environments.

The situation becomes more volatile when firearms are freely available,
especially when, as sometimes happens, the criminal element has more
firepower than the police. For the police officer, the war against crime
means putting on a flack jacket and breaking into crack houses. To the
extent that this increases the likelihood that police officers will be shot or
injured, their job becomes increasingly stressful.

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