They can’t safeguard you when they are under stress

Abstract

The purpose of this research is to explore work-related stress in the police of Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJ&K), Pakistan. The research aims to identify factors that contribute most towards job stress in AJ&K police and study the nature of and reasons underlying these factors. Political and media pressure has not been widely studied within the context of job stress in the police, and researchers have attempted to bridge this gap and make a theoretical contribution by highlighting the importance of political and media pressure as a job stressor for the police profession. This is exploratory research in which a survey was conducted in three large cities of AJ&K, Pakistan. Primary data was collected through a questionnaire comprising closed and open-ended interview questions. Descriptive statistics, correlation and regression analysis were conducted using SPSS. Content analysis of the interview statements was also undertaken to enhance the validity of the study. The research findings showed that although lack of resources is the biggest issue, other factors like political and media pressure, and long working hours are also significantly and positively associated with job stress in the police in AJ&K. The article draws attention towards political and media pressure as a job stressor for police. The research has an important role in compelling top management in AJ&K police to ponder the issue of job stress within their department. The findings are also important for police in other countries who are facing similar issues.

Keywords

Police political pressure media pressure lack of resources long working hours job stress exploratory research

Introduction

Job stress is an emotional state resulting from the external environment placing too many demands on an individual. Selye (1956), the first person to introduce the concept of stress, focused on stress from the point of view of biology, where he found eustress (positive stress) and distress (negative stress). Nowadays, stress in the workplace is a well-known and eye-catching topic within the area of organizational research (Deschamps et al., 2003). Various factors cause stress for employees in the workplace; these include (but are not limited to) lack of resources, working environment, job design, salary and unachievable goals among others. Some factors related to job stress in public sector organizations like the police are political influence, long working hours, media pressure, working environment and workload.

Nowadays, organizations expect extra performance from their employees, and often the job design and working environment are so demanding that they have physiological and psychological effects on workers. This psychological effect results in a lack of concentration and becomes the reason for low job productivity. Poor working conditions, mismanagement and poor job design also result in job stress among employees. Employee efficiency decreases as job stress increases.

Haque (2016) discussed that employees encounter stress at work for different reasons in different situations. He added that job stress negatively affects employees’ organizational commitment and organizational performance. Spector (2017) suggested that job stress may be caused by high job demands, role conflicts, role ambiguity, workload, organizational constraints, interpersonal conflicts and organizational mistreatment by management.

Policing is one of the most stressful occupations within the public sector, because of the nature and high demands of the job. Being a public organization, the police are publicly accountable and responsible, and are also subject to vast public expectation and pressure from society. Many things that cause stress to the police, including (but not limited to) shooting criminals, being shot at by criminals, suffering injury or harm during a raid, and encountering resistance and violence from lawbreakers. McCarty et al., (2007) recognized that within a police department both male and female officers feel stress equally. The factors discussed above and others that cause stress in employees reduce the performance and productivity of a police force (DeFrank and Ivancevich, 1998). Naz and Gavin (2013) found that the police was the institution most affected by 9/11 in Pakistan, after which the role of police changed dramatically. In countries like Pakistan, the police are busier since the launch of the ‘war on terror’. They are busy safeguarding high-ranking officials, politicians and the VVIP movement, guarding religious and public places, ensuring implementation of law and order, enforcing the law, providing a rapid response to disasters and terrorist attacks, attending to high numbers of telephone calls and performing routine duties at the station. However, the government has failed to enhance and develop the police force in accordance with the demands of the new era. Today the police in Pakistan face huge staff shortages. This shortage of staff creates extra work and fatigue for existing police officers, which subsequently causes them stress at the highest level.

Azad Jammu and Kashmir, commonly known as AJ&K, is a Pakistani administered part of Kashmir. AJ&K consists of 5134 square miles or 13,297 km. The population of AJ&K is ∼4.045 million. Under the control of Pakistan, the state has its own self-governing system. AJ&K has its own elected prime minister, president, supreme court and its own official flag. There are 10 districts in AJ&K, of these seven share a border with Indian-occupied Kashmir wherein there are reports of suppression. Hence AJ&K police faces not only internal threats, but also external factors due to the sensitive area and border with Indian-occupied Kashmir. AJ&K police expend extra effort in surveillance of spies and agents from across the border. The AJ&K police consist of 9,000 personnel headed by an inspector general of police (IGP) who is appointed by the federal government of Pakistan. The AJ&K police follow very old and traditional rules and acts, i.e. Police Act 1861, Police Rule 1934 and Police Rule 2002 (which is still not implemented completely). There are 46 police stations within the jurisdiction of the AJ&K police.

The study of issues and problems relating to the police is an important area of research within the social sciences. In this area, previous researchers have conducted studies on various factors including political influence, media pressure, lack of resources, workload, working environment, terrorism, job stress, job satisfaction and mental wellbeing. In Pakistan, the police have been a neglected area of research. Little research has been conducted to study the police in Pakistan. This study makes several theoratical and empirical contributions. First, we have taken the most organizationally valuable variable for a police department, i.e. job stress. The work of police professionals is very unique in the sense that the police are considered to be on duty 24 hours a day, and they face great risks to life and of injury; keeping these issues in mind, one can understand how significant problems of job stress are for the police. Police efficiency is largely affected by the issue of job stress, and it is important to explore various dimensions of job stress in the police. Second, political and media pressure are relatively new concepts for study as stressors for the police profession, media pressure in particular has not been studied widely by previous researchers within the context of police job stress, and has potential for researchers working in the field of work stress for the police. Third, analysis of the literature reveals that policing in Pakistan has been largely ignored by researchers, and it is of great importance that issues facing policing in Pakistan are discussed, taking into account that Pakistan is important in the fight against terrorism since 9/11 (Bilal, 2009). This study is the first to identify/explore various issues and problems related to occupational stress among AJ&K police. It has its own significance and importance in the current scenario where police productivity is discussed and criticized, largely by society, and administrators need to know the reasons behind this low productivity.

Theory and hypotheses development

Social change, financial aspects, judicial and criminal systems and demands, and spending time with family during periods of overload are some of the factors that create stress for the police. Bilal et al. (2009) found that, overall, Pakistani people have a negative image of the police and keep various complaints from the police; most of these complaints are related to police bad behaviour and attitudes towards the general public. Bilal et al. also discussed various issues that are potentially the reason for these complaints. They argued that excessive workloads, political influence, long working hours, media pressure and a lack of resources are major reasons for police low productivity and bad behaviour towards the public. By contrast, there have been no major developments in the police during the past century in Pakistan. The police still operate on a decades-old system, the police rule; infrastructure and other relevant aspects are decades if not centuries old in Pakistan.

Mathur (1995) found that frequent transfers, instability of tenure, sudden suspension from duty (most of the time when a police officer has not been proven guilty and even if, following an investigation, proven innocent), lack of timely promotion, show cause notices, enquiries within the department, a lack of casual, earned or other types of leave, and a refusal of leave when needed for family reasons are the causes of stress among police officers. Ranta (2009) also discussed some factors that cause stress among police officers: these include the nature of police work, which is very complex due to the different and unique tasks involved, including performing routine duties, protecting the general public, safeguarding VVIP movements, dealing with criminals, providing security to VIPs and various important and religious places, and dealing with outdated police laws. Sattar et al. (2017) found that unhappy employees cannot perform well in organizations. Hence organizations need to pay attention to factors such as job stress that can negatively affect employee happiness at work. Similarly, Luo and Ruiz (2012) stated that police officers are the most stressed professionals in the world. Luo and Ruiz found that job stress is one reason for the low productivity and bad behaviour of police officers. Cooper and Grimley (1983) also found that policing is one of the most stressful professions. In their study of the police, Deschamps et al. (2003) found that 33% of police personnel feel high levels of stress during duty. They found that police officers aged over 30 feel higher levels of stress than younger police personnel. Deschamps et al. added that police with more than 5 years’ service have high stress levels and this is due to long working hours, no social life or hobbies, and a lack of time for entertainment and leisure. Rasheed et al. (2016) suggested that compensation packages, job design, the working environment and performance management systems are important to keep employees motivated. Gutshall et al. (2017) suggested that law enforcement agencies and police officers face increasing demands from governments, politicians, the public and the media, on the one hand, and face criminals and terrorist attacks, on the other. Kula (2017) said that the Turkish National Police Force faces occupational stress that leads to lower job satisfaction among police personnel. He discussed how it is necessary to pay attention to the impact of stress on police officers because it is vital for their wellbeing and performance. Zhenxing and Zhang (2015) discussed that the police force in China is facing high levels of risk, stress and pressure that are not found in other civil servants. Wang et al. (2014) said that basic level policing is regarded as a highly stressful job in China.

Murray-Gibbons and Gibbons (2007) found that occupational stress in the police has a direct and negative impact on officers’ health and job performance. Luo and Ruiz (2012) discussed that policing in the 21st century is not an easy task. They argued that the job of top police officers is even more demanding because they are responsible to the public and politicians at the same time. Top administrators within the police are also responsible for maintaining high levels of morale among their subordinates in order that policing be effective and efficient. Bilal et al. (2009) pointed out that in Pakistan police officers are supposed to on duty for 24 hours. Jacobs et al. (2004) added that employees or workers who are on duty and face long working hours commonly show dissatisfaction with and a lack of interest in their duties. Abbas (2009) found that the police infrastructure in Pakistan is very old compared with other public-sector institutions in the country. The police force in Pakistan is deeply politicized, ill-equipped, lacks training and development, and faces many problems. Hammad et al. (2012) found in their study on traffic police in Pakistan, that the traffic police department is very stressed and poorly managed. They found that traffic police face various stressors, including political involvement, public expectations, a lack of resources and longer working hours. Schuster et al. (2001) stated that since the 9/11 terrorist attacks, police personnel face an increase in psychological problems due to a change in their job requirements. Abbas (2005) discussed that since 9/11, the Pakistan police have been affected greatly and face much loss of life as a result of fighting terrorism on the front line.

Political influence creates job stress in police

Vila (2006) discussed that politics affects police work as well as influencing the justice system in the police department. Chandler and Gely (1995) and Sever (2001) stated that the financial budget of the police department is dependent on political will, and therefore police work is mostly influenced by politicians. Koper and Moore (2001) argued that most police officials believe that political pressure affects policing and create hurdles to their work. Fogelson (1977) stated in his study that, according to a 1931 report issued by The National Commission on Law Observance and Enforcement, the involvement of politicians in police the plays a vital and basic role in police corruption and inefficiency. Politicians use the police to cover their corrupt practices. Politicians damage the police department and are a big hurdle to effective police performance. The National Commission recommended that political influence and pressure on police should be removed immediately. Manley (1983) found that political elements still exist in policing and have yet to be eliminated. Tunnell and Gaines (1992) discussed that it is very common for police chiefs to find their authority limited and their autonomy and power to make decisions lacking due to political hurdles. Lambert et al. (2017) said that the Haryana Police India faces many challenges likely due to being under political control. They further added that it is very difficult to bring about major changes in Indian policing because of control from politicians at the federal and provincial levels. Karki (2017) suggested that political pressure on public servants is routine and is very difficult to avoid in many situations. These discussions led us to hypothesize that:

H1: Political pressure is positively associated with job stress in the AJ&K Police

Media pressure is a cause of job stress in the police

Putnis (1996) and Mawby (2002) discussed that the police–media relationship is very complex and has many dimensions. Mawby (2002) stated that over the past few decades, because of quick and easy access to information for the public and media, and due to the activism of more and more news channels, the police have become highly accountable in the eyes of the public. Police officers feel great pressure from media during their work. Mawby added that, at the same time, the police need to satisfy the public by providing quick responses, give accurate news to the media, process investigations and go through the judicial process. Sometimes it is not possible for the police to give exact and complete information to the media because of confidentiality issues. However, journalists face huge pressures from their newsrooms to provide immediate information about crime stories and to be the first to break the news. Therefore, journalists sometime use unethical ways to obtain and leak the news, which can affects police productivity and increase tension between the police and media. Cooke and Sturges (2009) argued that the tense relationship between the police and the media has a long history and can be viewed as ‘arranged marriage’ that often has disputes and controversies. Reiner (2000) stated that the police and media are challenging to each other. Mawby (2002) argued that police officers have a negative perception of the media and believe that sometimes reporters ask for irrelevant or extra information that cannot be disclosed legally. Nix and Wolfe (2017) discussed how high-profile incidents during riots in many cities in America and other parts of the world attracted massive media coverage, which impacted on modern community policing. O’Neill and Aston (2017) discussed that in 2014, Scottish police came under pressure from the media, academia and politicians because of its routine ‘Stop and Search’ strategy. Based on this discussion, we hypothesize that:

H2: Media pressure is positively associated with job stress in AJ&K Police.

Lack of resources is creating job stress among police force

Ullah et al. (2016) found that, due to a lack of resources, police personnel are involved in corruption. They further added that due to a lack of resources and low salaries, police officers become involved in corruption and their performance is low. Pathirana (2017) discussed a shortage of resources in the Sri Lankan police with regard to investigations into child forensic cases. He said that due to a lack of resources and limited forensic training, the Sri Lankan police force faced serious challenges during the investigation. In their special report conducted in different provinces of Pakistan, Perito and Parvez (2013) discussed the lack of resources in the police force. They stated that four provinces have different background histories, different conditions, different operating styles, different numbers of police officers and different levels of resources. Murray-Gibbons and Gibbons (2007) found that stress in a police organization is categorized into two main groups: job demand and lack of resources. Lack of manpower is not the only shortage facing the Pakistani police; other shortages include, but are not limited to, lack of funds, technology, vehicles, fuel, arms, equipment and training.

In addition, AJ&K police has no forensic science laboratory. They rely on and get assistance from PFSA, which is situated in another province and is far away. AJ&K police take samples from a crime scene and send them to PFSA. Most police officers are not trained in sample collecting, and sometimes samples are damaged or laboratory reports affected negatively. There is no specific fund allocation for taking samples and obtaining reports from PFSA. In most cases, victims and culprits pay their own fees, which ultimately creates a conflict of interest. The same is true for police training, vehicles and arms. As a whole, AJ&K police face a shortage of resources that ultimately affects police performance negatively. This huge lack of resources not only affects police performance, also causes stress among officers. Vila (2006) found that a lack of resources is a big cause of stress among police officers. Hence, we hypothesize that:

H3: Lack of resources is positively associated with job stress in AJ&K Police.

Long working hours create job stress for police

Employee performance is damaged by long working hours and an excessive work burden, which lead to many problems including inadequate sleep, work–family conflict, fatigue and slow morning depletion, and ultimately cause job stress. Because of the unique nature of the job, the great responsibility for peacekeeping, maintaining law and order, excessive work and longer working hours are routine. This excessive work causes job stress (Vila, 2006). Police records and media reports show that in the USA, police officers worked 3,000 hours overtime a year during the past decade. (Armstrong, 1996; Cassidy and Armstrong, 1999). In August 2005, Boston Police Department began enforcing a long-standing rule that limited total working hours per week to 96, but this is high compared with other professions. Sleep disorder is a major outcome of long working hours (Buysse et al., 1989). Using the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index, Buysse et al. found that 41% of police officers had a high level of sleep disorder and were highly recommended to seek clinical treatment and medical attention. Researchers argue that people need a minimum of between 7 and 8 hours of good sleep each day. A 2001 poll by the National Sleep Foundation showed that only 17% of police officers sleep for an average of 8 or more hours per day; 53% reported average 6.5 or fewer hours sleep per day. During variable or stable day shifts police officers reported less and worse sleep standards and low sleep quality (Vila, 2006). This shows that long working hours create stress among police officers, which ultimately affects their wellbeing.

H4: Long working hours are positively associated with job stress in AJ&K Police

Research methodology

This study, supported by a survey strategy, was conducted to explore issues and problems faced by the police force in AJ&K. The survey was conducted in three large cities of Azad Jammu and Kashmir. Police officers were asked to complete a questionnaire that comprised closed as well as open-ended questions. A comprehensive questionnaire categorized into six major dimensions, including four open-ended questions, was designed to gain detailed insight into police officers. The sample size was 382 and was calculated using the formula given by Yamne (1967)

n = \frac{N}{1 + N {(e)}^{2}}

where N is the total population, 8373 in our study; e is the margin of error, taken here as 5%; and n is the sample size.

Therefore, we can say at a 95% confidence level that for our sample, 382 is a true representative of this population.

The authors informed respondents of the purpose of the research study. It was also ensured that respondents were from all levels of the police from inspector general to constable. The questionnaire was translated into Urdu (Pakistan National Language) using a translation–back translation system to ensure understanding and for those respondents who were not fluent in English. Researchers had to work very hard to ensure that they collected 382 valid questionnaires from AJ&K police where research studies are not common.

The results of the questionnaire were discussed to identify which issue contributes most to police stress in AJ&K.

Data analysis and results

Cronbach’s alpha was used to assess the reliability of the research questionnaire. Respondent demographics were studied by using descriptive statistics. Pearson’s correlation analysis was used to check the relationship between the variables, and linear regression analysis was used to find the influence of the independent variables on the dependent variable.

Cronbach’s alpha test was run in SPSS to verify inter-item consistency. Table 1 shows that all values related to the variables were above the standard value of 0.70, which demonstrates that our measurement scales are reliable and we can unquestionably apply various statistical tests and interpret the outcomes with certainty.

Table 1.

Reliability of measurement scales.

Variable	Cronbach’s alpha
Political pressure	0.84
Media pressure	0.72
Lack of resources	0.81
Long working hours	0.78
Job stress	0.83

Demographics of respondents

Demographic analysis shows that 80% of the respondents were male, 20% had a Master’s degree and 40% a Bachelor’s degree, 70% held the of sub-inspector or lower, 40% were aged 25–35 years and 30% were aged 35–50 years.

A correlation test was conducted to examine the relationship between different variables. Table 2 suggests that all the independent variables were positively correlated with job stress (JS). The most correlated variable was lack of resources (LR) with a Pearson’s correlation value r(382) = 0.49, p < 0.001, showing a positive relationship with JS. This means that a decrease in resources caused increases in job stress and our hypothesis is accepted (p < 0.01). This was followed by media pressure (MP) with a Pearson’s correlation of r(382) = 0.47, p < 0.01 illustrating a positive relationship with JS. This means that if media pressure increases, job stress also increases, and our hypothesis is accepted (p < 0.01). The third important variable was political pressure with a Pearson’s correlation of r(382) = 0.39, p < 0.001 showing a positive relationship with JS. This means that if political pressure increases then job stress also increases and our hypothesis is again accepted (p < 0.01). The fourth variable was long working hours (LW) with a Pearson’s correlation of r(382) = 0.38, p < 0.001, showing a moderate but positive relationship with JS, which implies that if long working hours increase then job stress also increases, and our hypothesis is accepted (p < 0.01).

Table 2.

Inter-correlations and descriptive statistics.

Variables	Mean	S.D.	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8
1. Age	36.47	9.92	–
2. Gender	1.21	0.43	0.01	–
3. Education	2.70	0.94	0.11	0.03	–
4. Experience	11.20	8.60	0.61*	0.43	0.21*	–
5. Political pressure	4.12	0.27	0.11	0.32	0.29*	0.41**	–
6. Media pressure	3.16	0.16	0.04	0.71	0.59*	0.41*	0.120	–
7. Lack of resources	2.71	0.29	0.12	0.23	0.42	0.38	0.260	0.620	–
8. Long working hours	4.19	0.31	0.09	0.81	0.73	0.54	−0.41	0.26	0.19	–
9. Job stress	4.21	0.32	0.06	0.02	0.39	0.54	0.39***	0.47**	0.49**	0.38**

Notes: N = 382; Significant at *p < 0.05 (two-tailed) and **p < 0.01 (two-tailed). Gender: 1 = female, 2 = male. Age and experience in actual number of years. Education: 1 = high school, 2 = college, 3 = bachelor’s degree, 4 = Master’s degree, 5 = PhD.

Linear regression was conducted to find the impact of the independent variables on the dependent variable. Table 3 shows that R ² = 0.414 and adjusted R ² = 0.59, which implies that there is 41% change in job stress due to the studied independent variables, i.e. political pressure, media pressure, lack of resources and long working hours, and our research model contributes 59% to our study . The ANOVA results (Table 3) show that our model is a good fit because p < 0.05.

Table 3.

Regression analysis.

Model summary^a
Model	R	R ²	Adjusted R ²	Standard error of the estimate
1	.268a	0.414	0.059	0.92353
ANOVA^b
Model		Sum of squares	d.f.	Mean square	F	Sig.
1	Regression	14.068	3	4.689	5.498	0.001^a
	Residual	182.524	214	0.853
	Total	196.592	217

^aPredictors: (Constant), PP, MP, LR, LW.

^bDependent variable: JS.

Discussion

Our research instrument included closed as well as open-ended questions. We present some of the respondents’ responses for further analysis and discussion. When asked, ‘What is your opinion about political pressure in AJ&K, does it exist, if so does it really effects the working of AJ&K Police, what level (if any) of political pressure you face in routine?’, a senior police officer said that:

[The] Presence of political pressure in AJ&K police is not a reality that one can deny but actually, it is one of the biggest issues that creates hurdles in smooth functioning of police here in AJ&K. Problem is that politicians consider influencing police positively or negatively as one of their inherent rights. They not only want to influence recruitment of constables and other low-level jobs in the police but they also influence transfer and postings. If a station house officer (SHO) is not pleasing the local politicians they go against him put so many complaints and get him transferred from their locality, as a result, the new coming SHO oblige them some time out of the way and against the norms.

A station house officer opined that:

Political pressure is one of the biggest hurdles in achieving transparency and smooth working of police in AJ&K. Whenever we arrest some criminals, in less than an hour our phone rang and some politician wants us to not register FIR against him. In some cases, they want VIP protocol (like provision of home-like environment behind the bars, the availability of internet, phone and television, etc.) for the criminals who belong to their constituency and who are their potential voters. Obeying all demands of politicians take police against the law and not obeying take them to even worst consequences like transfer to far places, suspension from the job and no promotion for many years. It is therefore not easy to bear this political pressure for every police officer. Therefore, many suffer from stress and burnout at their job due to the political pressure.

These responses also validate the findings of our quantitative data, in which our hypothesis that political pressure is positively associated with job stress in AJ&K police has been accepted through statistical analyses conducted using SPSS. It validates not only the quantitate data, but also previous research by Chander and Gely (1995), Koper and Moore (2001), Sever (2001) and Villa (2006).

Another question asked was, ‘what is your opinion about media pressure in the Police Department, does it exist, if so does it really affect the working of AJ&K?’.

In response to this question, a senior police officer stated his opinion that:

No doubt media is an important pillar of any society. Pakistani private news media sector is witnessing its historical freedom. There are about 100 private news channels working in Pakistan, all are in the worst condition of competition with each other. Unfortunately, news reporters are not professionally trained. Due to these factors, media reporters, most of the time becomes a hurdle in the smooth working of Police. In a race to compete others, media representatives use all means, legal or illegal, ethical or unethical for covering a case or finding breaking news. Sometimes police cannot provide the whole story to the media for the sake of confidentiality but media uses illegal and unethical ways to get a news and actually exploit the case. They also blackmail or defame police officers which ultimately become a reason for stress in police officers.

A station house officer said:

Dealing with media is one of the biggest challenges for police these days. I personally believe that SHOs in AJ&K police badly needs media management training as it is already being conducted in Punjab province. Due to lack of skills in dealing media, I have seen SHOs getting upset and tense because if issues related to media influence in their routine working.

These findings support our quantitative data in which statistical analyses confirmed our hypothesis that media influence is positively associated with job stress. These findings also support previous research by Cooke and Sturges (2009), Mawby (2002) and Putnis (1996).

Another question was, ‘What is your opinion about the resources (funds, vehicles, arms, technology, and training, etc.) available to the police in AJ&K, are adequate resources available to AJ&K police, if not describe some resources, the shortage of which is badly harming the work of AJ&K police?’.

Responding to this question, a senior police officer said that:

I have to accept that resources with[in] AJ&K police are too short to work smoothly and freely like a police [officer] in an ideal society. If you talk about the resources, they are too less than the standard or from the required level. Manpower is the biggest thing which too short in AJ&K police as compared to a standard figure. This shortage of manpower actually puts a lot of pressure, stress and burden of working extra on existing officers in the AJ&K police. On the other side, you can see that the vehicles in our use are outdated, rusty and not maintained due the fact that we have no budget for new vehicles or even for the timely maintenance of our vehicles. On the other side, criminals are using modern, the latest and high-power vehicles. How can we catch them?

A station head officer said that:

There is not proper fund for maintenance of vehicles and offices in AJ&K police stations. The fuel limit is 60 litres per month which is not sufficient even for 1 week need. The online, computerization or latest technology is still a dream for AJ&K police stations. There is no forensic science laboratory in AJ&K, we have to get help from Punjab in this regards. There is no budget allocated for the forensic results from Punjab laboratory, we arrange more than 50,000 rupees for a forensic result sometimes from our own sources or sometimes for the accused or victim. Which causes a conflict of interest problem. How can a police officer feel relaxed in such a bad level of resources?

These findings validated our quantitative data findings, as well as previous research by Murray-Gibbons and Gibbons (2007) and Perito and Parvez (2013).

The last open-ended question was, ‘is long working hours really a problem in AJ&K police, if so please explain how it is effecting AJ&K police workers?’.

A police officer responded to this question:

If you want to resolve problems of AJ&K police, I would say try to remove the problem of extra working. In fact we are on duty for 24 hours, this is inhumane. The main reason for long working hours in AJ&K police is the shortage of manpower. The government must recruit new employees in the police and should allocate a budget for AJ&K police.

Another officer said that:

Long working hours create so many problems in the life of a policeman. We cannot give proper time to our family and friends. Cannot go out for recreation or with friends. Cannot attend family events and gatherings. There is always big work–family conflict in the life of a policeman, the basic reason for which is this long working issue.

These findings are in line with our quantitative data analyses which helped us accept the hypothesis that long working hours are positively associated with job stress in AJ&K police. These findings also validated previous research by Armstrong (1996) and Vila (2006).

Limitations of study and future directions

We have tried to enhance the reliability, validity and scope of this research, but like all research our study also has some limitations. The first limitation is its dependence on cross-sectional data. All variables are self-reported and cross-sectional in nature and there is a chance of common method variance. We have tried to counteract this problem of self-report by conducting interviews, using open-ended questions (present in the questionnaire). Longitudinal research including responses from supervisors as well as employees is suggested to study the problems related to job stress in AJ&K police.

Another factor is the limited number of independent variables studied in this research. Many other factors also contribute to job stress in AJ&K police, and it is suggested that a broad level study including the maximum number of factors is needed to give a real picture of job stress in the AJ&K police. Another limitation of this study is the convenient sampling technique used; other sampling techniques can be used in further studies.

Conclusion

The objective of this study was to explore issues and problems of job stress in AJ&K police. Political pressure, media pressure, lack of resources and long working hours were found to bethe most imporant factors causing job stress in the police. The association of these variables with job stress was found to be positive and significant. Therefore, we believe that the issues and problems related to job stress seen in AJ&K police are due to these variables. From the analysis, we found that a lack of resources is a major issue causing job stress in AJ&K police. It is suggested that higher level management within the police should focus their attention on these issues so that job stress can be minimised.

Footnotes

Declaration of conflicting interests

The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Funding

The author(s) received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

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