Criminal Justice and Behavior, Ahead of Print.
The 2019 outbreak caused by a novel coronavirus poses unprecedented challenges for police. In China, police officers are involved in the fight against the pandemic in collaboration with medical and public health personnel. Prolonged working hours, high intensity, and high risk of infection lead to stress and, in turn, burnout among police officers. We investigated the psychosocial well-being of police officers in Wuhan, China, and found that 18.64 % of police officers were experiencing burnout. Improvements in sleep quality, social support, and psychological resilience can significantly reduce levels of burnout, and increased perceived stress is associated with increased levels of burnout; age and marital status interact with this association. As one of the most important participants in the on-site rescue and rescue work of major emergencies, the burnout of police deserves to be paid attention to. Managers should actively take measures to reduce the occurrence of police burnout.