Occupational events reported by officers were then categorized as either Job Content or Job Context stressors. Job content stressors derive from the nature of the work done by police officers, while job context stressors derive from the nature of the organization in which officers work. The data suggest that Australian police officers, like their counterparts in the United States and the United Kingdom, face a number of job context events, such as organizational structure and communication, supervisory practices, and career pathing concerns, which are similar to the organizational stresses reported by many work groups. Police officers also work in a professional environment which stresses emotional detachment from others, suspiciousness toward the community, and cynicism regarding the job. In addition, police face the daily prospect of being exposed to dangerous, uncontrolled, and anxiety-provoking situations which may result in death or physical injury to officers or innocent bystanders. These acute stressors may compound the already high level of stress that officers feel as a result of daily hassles in the job. This combination of Job Context and Job Content stressors makes policing a potentially highly stressful occupation. (Author abstract)