Does being a HERO really make a positive difference to police’s wellbeing?

This study examines the extent to which Psychological Capital (PsyCap) impacts police officer Street Level Bureaucrats (SLBs) operational and organizational stress, and their subsequent well-being. The sample comprised 220 Italian and 228 English SLBs. The survey data was analyzed using mainly the Analysis for Moment Structures (AMOS) v.27 structural Equation Modelling software. PsyCap explains approximately a fifth of SLBs’ organizational stress, and together, their variance accounted for approximately two-thirds of SLBs’ well-being. The findings suggest a need to upskill SLBs in PsyCap so that they can better negotiate bureaucratic processes, without becoming more susceptible to stress-related disease.