ANALYSIS OF POLICE OFFICERS' ATTITUDES REGARDING THE IMPORTANCE OF PHYSICAL FITNESS IN STRESS PREVENTION

Abstract

Workplace stress or professional stress is a specific type of stress that is highly prevalent among police officers. Police officers are exposed to high levels of stress and its negative impact ontheir physical and mental health, as well as their social lives. The aim of this research is to determine the attitudes regarding the connection between physical fitness and stress prevention among police officers. The sample consists of 516 employees from police departments in the Central Bosnia Canton. The sample is structured with 312 male participants and 204 female participants. Both descriptive and analytical methods were applied in this research, as the descriptive method was used to describe the distribution of the studied phenomenon, while the analytical part followed the logic of the research. Analyzing all the results, it can be concluded that there is a high level of satisfaction with the management of work processes among police officers and with stress reduction in the workplace. The conclusion arises about the necessity of increasing the number of hours of police training, primarily for basic and investigative police work, in stress prevention among police officers. The results of comparative analysis indicate that there is no statistically significant difference among participants based on gender. The results show that the age of the participants significantly influences their attitudes towards overall satisfaction with management quality. Theresults suggest that participants who have been employed the longest and make the most use of the existing infrastructure express more positive attitudes.Key words:police, stress, physical fitness, burnout, prevention.