Objective: Employment as an urban police officer was hypothesized to be associated with increased structural subclinical cardiovascular disease  (CVD), measured by carotid artery intima-media thickness (IMT).  Methods: The  sample of men and women consisted of police officers  (n  312)  and  the general population (n  318),  free  of clinical CVD. Results: Officers had elevated levels of age-adjusted CVD risk  factors (blood pressure, total cholesterol, smoking  prevalence) compared with the population sample. In age-, gender-, and traditional risk factor-adjusted  models, police officers exhibited increased mean common carotid IMT (police  0.67 mm, population   0.64 mm; P 0.03) and mean maximum carotid IMT (police   0.99 mm, population  0.95 mm; P  0.13).

Conclusions: Police officers have increased levels of atherosclerosis  compared with a general population sample, which was not fully explained by  elevated CVD risk factors; thereby potentially implicating other mechanisms whereby law enforcement work may increase CVD risk. ( J Occup  Environ Med. 2009;51:700 –707)