THE EFFECTS OF OCCUPATIONAL STRESS ON SERVICE DELIVERY AMONG THE NATIONAL POLICE OFFICERS IN NAIROBI CITY COUNTY, KENYA

Abstract

Occupational stress is a known cause of myriad negative effects in most public sector institutions across the globe, the Kenyan national police officers being among them. The study, based on this sought to examine the effects of occupational stress among Nairobi City County’s national police officers on their service delivery. A descriptive research design was adopted for the study, a total target population was 3524, and a sample of 374 was finally used. Questionnaires were used to collect qualitative and quantitative data that were eventually analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. Ethical considerations of anonymity and confidentiality were adhered to. It was thus found that occupational stress affects officers in both personal and professional spaces, caused by work-related pressures, fuelled by political interest, low number of human resources, inadequate time to socialize with friends and relatives, and negative perceptions among officers on their jobs. Moreover, pressures during emergencies cause trauma due to dire negative experiences, among others. All these occurrences negatively affect the quality of service delivery among the police officers in Nairobi City County, calling for reforms that involve the provision of psychosocial support to tackle stressors from the occupation, build mental resilience, and improve service delivery. Moreover, there is a need to add Human resources, to ease work time pressure, and provide a conducive environment for economic, social, and emotional growth.