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published online 16 November 2012Police QuarterlySteven G. Brandl and Brad W. Smith

and Age at Death: A Research NoteAn Empirical Examination of Retired Police Officers' Length of Retirement

  

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465611 PQXXXX10.1177/1098611112465611Policy QuarterlyBrandl and Smith

Police Quarterly

1University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Milwaukee, WI, USA2Wayne State University, Detroit, MI, USA

Corresponding Author:Steven G. Brandl, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, PO Box 786, Milwaukee, WI 53201, USA Email: sgb@uwm.edu

An Empirical Examination of Retired Police Officers’ Length of Retirement and Age at Death: A Research Note

Steven G. Brandl1 and Brad W. Smith2

Abstract

The purpose of this research note was to compare Detroit police officers with other City of Detroit employees in terms of the length of their retirements and the age at which they die. Data on retired and deceased police officers and other city employees were obtained from the City of Detroit (N = 7,325). Ordinary least squares regression equations were estimated using age at death and length of retirement as dependent variables. The results show that retired officers die significantly younger than other retired city employees and that officers have significantly shorter retirements prior to death than other city employees. Given the limitations of the data analyzed here, the reasons for the differences among retired police officers and other retired workers with regard to mortality largely remain speculative. However, the findings suggest that additional attention to health concerns and issues among current and retired officers may be warranted in policy as well as in research.

Keywords

police, mortality, retirement

Introduction

An important and fairly well developed line of occupational research examines the mortality outcomes of workers after retirement (e.g., Frank, Biola, & Burnett, 2000; Hult, Stattin, Janlert, & Jarvholm, 2010; Kim & Moen, 2002); however, there is little research that examines the experiences of police officers in this regard (Raub, 1988;

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2 Police Quarterly XX(X)

Sardinas, Wang-Miller, & Hansen, 1986; Violanti, Vena, & Petrolia, 1998). Although few studies have examined the postretirement mortality of police officers, many stud-ies have documented the serious health-related issues prevalent among police officers, including sleep disorders and fatigue (Fielder, 2011; Rajaratnam et al., 2011), burnout and stress (Gershon, Barocas, Canton, Li, & Vlahov, 2009; Hall, Dollard, Tuckey, Winefield, & Thompson, 2010; Schaible & Gecas, 2010), injuries and assaults (Brandl & Stroshine, 2003), posttraumatic stress disorder (Maguen et al., 2009) and depression (Violanti et al., 2006). Some studies have highlighted the lifestyle, result-ing from the stress and demands of police work, which encourage or contribute to unhealthy habits (e.g., poor diet, heavy alcohol consumption; see Feidler, 2011; Gershon et al., 2009; Rajaratnam et al., 2011). Further, studies have linked occupa-tional stress to serious physical health problems, including but not limited to coronary artery and heart disease (Holmes, Krantz, Rogers, Gottdiener, & Contrada, 2006), conditions that often cause early death. Given the demands of the job, and the behav-ioral and health consequences of those demands (see Luo & Ruiz, 2012 for a review), there is good reason to believe that a career of police work may have negative effects on retired officers’ longevity. Indeed, police officers themselves often assume that they will die shortly after retirement (Raub, 1988).

Furthermore, for police officers, retirement itself may also present unique problems of adjustment and stress. As a result of the distinctive features of the occupation (e.g., use of coercive authority, social isolation, and a pervasive sense of danger), police officers develop remarkably strong bonds among one another. They are often referred to, and refer to themselves as a brotherhood or as a family (Holmes & Smith, 2008), often seeing themselves as distinct from ordinary citizens (Bonifacio, 1991; see also Crank, 1998; Langworthy & Travis, 2003; Van Maanen, 1973). Police work is an occupational lifestyle, providing officers with the core of their identity (Skolnick & Fyfe, 1993). As they leave this lifestyle, and lose their status and identity, retired police officers may experience some of the adverse consequences of retirement more intensely than their civilian counterparts (Caudill & Peak, 2009), also perhaps affect-ing their postretirement longevity. Despite these conventional notions, however, we know relatively little about the lengths of officer retirement, or officer mortality after retirement. The extremely limited research on police officers’ death after retirement presents inconsistent findings and suffers from a number of methodological shortcomings.

The lack of research on the issue, and shortcomings of existing research, is under-standable but unfortunate. In particular, access to retired police officers for research purposes (especially with regard to their mortality) is much more difficult than access to currently employed officers, the issues faced by retired police officers are generally not as salient to police managers as those faced by current police officers, and since retired police officers are out of the occupation, they are of less interest to analysts who study the occupation and organization. Arguably, however, police and civic lead-ers have an ethical obligation to pay serious attention to the health and welfare of retired officers, particularly in the form of reasonable retirement policy and benefits.

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Brandl and Smith 3

The purpose of this research note is modest: To compare retired City of Detroit police officers with other retired City of Detroit employees in terms of the age at which they died and the length of their retirements. Given the paucity of research that has directly examined this issue, this study represents an important step toward a better understanding of police postretirement mortality.

Previous ResearchThree studies have specifically examined the mortality rates and age at death of police officers in the United States: Raub (1988), Sardinas et al. (1986), and Violanti et al. (1998). Sardinas et al. (1986) examined the ischemic heart disease (IHD) related mor-tality of Connecticut firemen and policemen for the years 1960-1978. Using standard-ized mortality odds ratios (MOR) and death certificate data, the authors found that MOR as a result of IHD for policemen was greater than that for firemen, suggesting that policemen have shorter lives than firemen. This study, however, suffers from several limitations, including that only IHD related mortality was examined, the amount of “exposure” to the occupation was unknown (i.e., the amount of time police officers and firefighters were employed in the occupation is not specified), and only subjects between 25 and 59 years of age were included in the study.

Raub (1988) compared mortality rates of 732 Illinois State Police (ISP) retirees to the actuarial “standard tables” used by the ISP Retirement System. He found that, when compared to the predictions of these standard tables, ISP officers who retired between 1955 and 1986 were significantly more likely to be alive. In addressing ques-tions about officer mortality, however, this study also suffers from several shortcom-ings. In particular, it appears that the standard tables used in the study were based on whether or not officers were alive at certain “years since retirement” but it is not clear if the author accounted for the differences in retirement age among the sample officers and those who were used to construct the standard tables. In other words, it is possible that ISP police officers retired at younger ages than the population used to construct the standard tables, thus biasing the results. Furthermore, the author did not directly examine officer age at death. In making comparisons to the standard tables, the author also did not take into account officers’ rank/position in the department, the type of retirement that was taken (e.g., early retirement, disability retirement), or the officers’ race or gender, and few details are provided about the age at which officers retired.

Violanti et al. (1998) conducted a cohort study of city of Buffalo police officers, specifically examining mortality rates and causes. The cohort consisted of 2,693 White male officers who worked for the Buffalo Police Department a minimum of 5 years between January 1, 1950 and December 31, 1990. The authors found that the average age at death for the 1,035 officers who had died was 66 years, which was significantly younger than the mortality ages for the U.S. White male population during those years. To assist in interpreting these results, Ruiz and Morrow (2005) added that according to a 2001 Department of Health and Human Services study, the average age at death among Americans during the study’s approximate timeframe was 77.2 years. Violanti

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4 Police Quarterly XX(X)

et al. (1998) also found that their cohort of police officers was significantly more likely than U.S. White males (based on standardized mortality ratios) to die of certain forms of cancer (esophagus, colon, and kidney), Hodgkin’s disease, cirrhosis of the liver, and suicide. A significantly lower mortality rate was observed among police officers for infective and parasitic diseases, respiratory diseases, and accidents.

Clearly there is too little research from which to draw conclusions about the mortal-ity of retired police officers. Not only do the findings of the limited prior research conflict, the prior studies suffer from significant methodological shortcomings. The present study adds to what is known about police officer mortality by comparing a relatively homogenous sample of retired police officers and other city workers on age at death and length of retirement.

Data and MethodThe data for this study were obtained from the City of Detroit Retirement Systems Office. This office maintains a data file on current retired city employees as well as city employees who have died after retirement. For purposes of this study, a request was made of the Retirement Systems Office for data on retired city employees (police officers and general city employees) who died between January 1, 1995 and July 20, 2010. Specifically, for each deceased retiree, the following data were requested: department from which the employee retired (i.e., police department or other city department, not including fire department), type of retirement (e.g., service, duty dis-ability), sex, date of birth, date of hire, date of retirement, and date of death.1 From these data, age at death (year of death minus year of birth) and length of retirement (date of death minus date of retirement) were calculated.2 Table 1 provides the descriptive statistics for the variables used in the analysis.

Table 1. Descriptive Statistics (N = 7,325)

Variable N Mean Standard deviation Minimum Maximum

Age at death (years) 7,237 78.70 10.94 36.3 106.1Length of retirement (months)

7,325 241.96 114.80 .1 704.6

Police officer 1 = yes 7,325 .06 .24 0 1 0 = no Type of retirement 1 = service 7,325 .80 .40 0 1 0 = other Sex of employee 1 = male 7,319 .73 .44 0 1 0 = female Age at retirement (years) 7,237 58.73 6.58 22.4 86.9

Note: Missing data excluded from analyses.

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Brandl and Smith 5

In total, 7,325 cases (retired employees who died between January 1, 1995 and July 20, 2010) were included in the data set.3 Of these cases, 6,873 were general city employees (not including fire department employees) and 452 were police officers.

AnalysesTo examine the age at death and length of retirement of police officers and general city employees, ordinary least squares (OLS) regression equations were estimated with age at death and length of retirement as the dependent variables. The primary independent variable of interest in the analysis was department of employment (police officers vs. other city workers). As noted in Table 1, other variables included as con-trols were sex of employee, type of retirement,4 and age at retirement.5

We began the analysis with collinearity diagnostics. The bivariate correlations revealed no clear problems of collinearity. None of the bivariate correlation coeffi-cients exceeded .52. To check for multicollinearity caused by the combination of two or more variables, we examined variance inflation factors (VIFs). None of the VIFs obtained from either model were greater than 1.46, a value well below the generally accepted limit (Neter, Kutner, Nachtsheim, & Wasserman, 1996, p. 387).

ResultsThe results are organized into two sections: (1) age at death and (2) length of retire-ment. Within each section, police officers are compared to general city employees in OLS regression equations.

Age at Death: Police Officers and General City EmployeesAs seen in Table 2, the OLS regression analysis of age at death shows that police officers died significantly younger than general city employees. In fact, all else equal, police officers died more than 6 years younger than general city employees. The analysis also reveals that employees who retired with retirement classifications other than regular service retirements died significantly younger (7.30 years) than employ-ees who retired with service retirements, that males died significantly younger (2.48 years) than females, and that employees who retired at older ages died at older ages than employees who retired at younger ages.

Length of Retirement: Police Officers and General City EmployeesAlso of interest is how police officers compare with other city employees with regard to length of retirement (see Table 3). The OLS regression analysis of length of retire-ment reveals that police officers had significantly shorter retirements than general city employees, with police officers having retirements nearly 74 months (over 6 years) shorter than other city employees. The analysis also shows that employees who retired with retirement classifications other than regular service retirements had significantly

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shorter retirements than employees who retired with service retirements, that males had significantly shorter retirements than females, and that employees who retired at older ages had significantly shorter retirements than employees who retired at younger ages.

Summary and ConclusionsThe purpose of this study was to compare Detroit police officers to other City of Detroit employees in terms of the length of their retirements and their age at death. The results show that, on average, retired police officers die significantly younger than retired general city employees and they have significantly shorter retirements prior to death than general city employees.

Given the data available for this study, we cannot empirically explain the seem-ingly premature deaths of police officers postretirement; however, previous research may assist in this regard. One explanation calls attention to officers’ maladaptive responses to the demands of the job. Specifically, the nature and demands of the job (e.g., shift work, exposure to misery and conflict, constant potential for danger, risk of physical injury, public apathy, and court process) may lead officers to certain dysfunc-tional habits and attitudes as coping mechanisms. These habits and attitudes may result in unhealthy outcomes. The unhealthy outcomes may eventually lead to earlier death compared to other city employees. Where the demands of the job are not great, dys-functional habits and attitudes may not develop, nor may the associated unhealthy outcomes (and premature death). Much research has highlighted the unhealthy

Table 2. Ordinary Least Squares Regression Analysis of Employees’ Age at Death (years; N = 7,325)

Variable Unstandardized coefficient Standard error Beta t-ratio

Police officer 1 = yes –6.17 .47 –.14 13.01** 0 = no Sex of employee 1 = male –2.48 .24 –.10 –10.47** 0 = female Type of retirement 1 = service 7.30 .29 .28 24.96** 0 = other Age at retirement (years) .55 .02 .33 28.51**Constant 42.78 1.08 — 39.69**R square .35 Adjusted R square .35 n 7230

**p < .01. Missing data excluded from analyses.

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Brandl and Smith 7

behaviors of officers, and their consequences. For example, research has shown that compared to the general population, a greater proportion of the police drink alcohol excessively (Kohan & O’Connor, 2002; Richmond, Wodok, Kohoe, & Heather, 1998) and smoke (Violanti et al., 1998; Richmond et al., 1998). Accordingly, alcohol-related liver disease as a cause of death was found to be twice that of the general population, lung cancer deaths are also more common among the police (Richmond et al., 1998). Violanti et al. (1998) also found that police officers have an elevated risk of dying from cirrhosis of the liver.

Another possible explanation for the relatively early death of police officers after they retire relates to the emotional disruption that results from retirement itself. Retirement involves leaving not only the job but everything that it represents. As it has been described many times, being a police officer is not just a job; it is a way of life. Retirement then means losing more than just an association with a job; it involves leaving a strong subculture that has been in place since the start of the officers’ career. Retired officers are no longer part of this subculture, they no longer experience and share unique and potentially dangerous situations with other officers, situations that further encourage and strengthen bonds among officers, and they may lose much of their social support network. Retired officers also lose the prestige and status of being a police officer. They lose part of their identity. Furthermore, many retired officers have few skills beyond what was learned as a police officer, limiting post retirement job opportunities, especially jobs that carry the same status (Caudill & Peak, 2009). In

Table 3. Ordinary Least Squares Regression Analysis of Employees’ Length of Retirement (months; N = 7,325)

Variable Unstandardized coefficient Standard error Beta t ratio

Police officer 1 = yes –74.04 5.69 –.16 –13.01** 0 = no Sex of employee 1 = male –29.76 2.84 –.12 –10.47** 0 = female Type of retirement 1 = service 87.61 3.51 .31 24.96** 0 = other Age at retirement (years)

–5.40 .23 –.31 –23.31**

Constant 513.32 12.93 — 39.69**R square .12 Adjusted R square .12 n 7,230

**p < .01. Missing data excluded from analyses.

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8 Police Quarterly XX(X)

essence, the “crisis” of retirement may bring with it negative health outcomes, poten-tially leading to premature death.

The findings of the study have several implications. First, additional attention to health concerns and issues among current and retired officers may be warranted in policy as well as in research. In particular, the physical and mental health and well-being of currently employed officers can have a significant impact on the organization (e.g., officer productivity, sick days, health insurance costs) to say nothing of the impact on officers themselves. The health of officers while employed may have impli-cations for the health of officers after they retire, and ultimately for their longevity after retirement. Second, the findings inform discussions about appropriate retirement plans. Retirement plans that require officers to work longer (i.e., defined contribution benefit pension plans) will essentially shorten officers’ retirements even further. As such, “20 and out” or “25 and out” pension plans may have an empirical rationale. For equity purposes, police officers and other city employees should be able to enjoy simi-lar retirement lengths. Finally, the findings also suggest the potential importance of retirement planning on the part of officers. Administrators should institute programs to help officers prepare for retirement, for life on the other side of the thin blue line (Caudill & Peak, 2009). Employer–sponsored employee preretirement programs result in numerous positive outcomes including better postretirement health, better social interactions, and a sense of belonging (Yen, Schultz, McDonald, Champagne, & Edington, 2006).

While this study adds to what we know about retired police officers’ age at death and length of retirement, like other research in this area the study also has limitations. In particular, race, education, and lifestyle factors, issues known to be related to health and mortality outcomes, could not be examined in the study as these data were simply not available. Measures of lifestyle (including health habits), for example, may help determine if it is the work of police officers (i.e., stress) or other lifestyle related fac-tors that lead to early death. This study also did not examine causes of death as these data were also not available. Future research that examines the causes of death could enhance our understanding of the differences between police officers and other occu-pations and help explain differences in mortality ages. The generalizability of the results also remains an issue. The context in which Detroit Police officers work is not typical of most departments in the country. Nonetheless, it is important to conduct analyses on individual police departments in order to consider the context in which police officers work. One may expect to find different results where the demands of the job are also different (and where the maladaptive behaviors may also vary). Indeed, future studies comparing departments of differing sizes and types are needed. For example, some police agencies have ongoing weight and physical fitness standards, whereas many others simply require officers to meet these standards at the time of hire. Finally, this study includes retired employees who died within a 15 year time frame. A longer time fame may provide a larger sample and greater confidence in the results.

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Brandl and Smith 9

Given the unique nature of the occupation, it seems plausible that officers would have shorter retirements and life spans, and the current study supports these notions. Yet, at present, we still know relatively little about police officers’ length of retirement or age at death. Continued research in this area may help to inform retirement policies, as well as preretirement planning and other health-related programs within police departments. Government leaders and police policy makers have an obligation to con-sider the health and welfare of their employees.

Declaration of Conflicting Interests

The authors declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Funding

The authors received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Notes

1. The race of the retiree was not available.2. Given that some retirements were quite short, we chose to measure retirement length in

months to provide greater variation and thus account for officers with very short retirements.3. Employees who died prior to retirement (e.g., officers killed in the line of duty) and employ-

ees who died after they terminated employment for reasons other than retirement were not included in the data provided by the city. Although these data would have been useful, they were not consistently or accurately collected by the city.

4. Research has shown that individuals who retire with “early retirements” are at risk of ear-lier mortality (Hult et al., 2010). This is due not to the early retirement per se but to health issues before retirement, which may have led to early retirement. Indeed, as discussed below, analyses of the data here also showed that police officers who retired with “early retirement” and other “nonservice” classifications died at younger ages than officers who retired with regular “service” retirement designations.

5. It is necessary to control for age at retirement given that initial analyses revealed that police officers retired, on average, at significantly younger ages than general city employees. Spe-cifically, police officers retired at an average of 53.2 years of age, compared to general city workers at 60.8 years of age. The reason that police officers retired at a younger age than general city employees is that, on average, police officers began their careers for the city at an earlier age than general city workers and police officers have earlier retirement eligibility.

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Bios

Steven G. Brandl is an Associate Professor in the Department of Criminal Justice at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. His research focuses on health and safety issues in polic-ing and police decision-making and behavior. He is currently conducting studies on police decision-making in use of force situations and police officer injuries.

Brad W. Smith is an Associate Professor in the Department of Criminal Justice at Wayne State University. His research focuses on policing, including studies of discretionary behavior, citi-zens’ attitudes toward the police, police use of force, police-minority relations and police brutality.

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