The pressures associated with a career in law enforcement are considerable. They significantly affect an officer’s personality, behavior, and overall mental health, ultimately impacting job performance and work engagement. Yet, the influence of stress encountered in police work and understanding how those stressors and coping methods are experienced in the first year have not been fully explored. The purpose of this study was to describe the lived experiences of police officer’s stress in their first year and to identify their coping skills. A phenomenological approach was employed. Data sources included semi-structured interviews and direct observation, which revealed three themes: external stressors, mental health stigmatization, and emotion-focused coping. Study findings provide police administrators and mental health professionals with insight when formulating prevention, intervention, and treatment strategies for addressing stress among first-year police officers. In addition, the promotion of adaptive coping strategies may enhance officers’ job performance and mental health. These benefits of well-adjusted police officers trickle down to the community in the form of better relationships and interactions between police officers and the public. At the same time, it also lightens the cognitive load on the individual officer.
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