Wearable tech device helps police monitor stress levels in the field
Wearable tech device helps police monitor stress levels in the field
Publish Date: 2026-04-28 13:18:00
Source Domain: news.asu.edu
In 2020, the murder of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer ignited protests around the world and a national reckoning over policing.
For Arizona State University Associate Professor Nicole Roberts, it raised an important question: What would happen if officers could see their stress levels rising before conflicts with the public escalate?
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And over the past six years, the director of the Emotion, Culture, and Psychophysiology Lab, together with an interdisciplinary group of researchersOther faculty contributors include: Danielle Wallace, Teresa Wu, Scott Barclay and Katina Michael. In addition, former ASU students Tara Paranjpe and Sang-Hun Sim were researchers on the project., has been developing a device designed to do just that.
Stress Watch, as the device is cleverly called, uses Fitbit-based technology, machine learning and behavioral science to alert officers when their stress reaches a potentially dangerous level — especially during altercations with the public that can quickly intensify. There is an accountability component to the technology that would notify supervisors or partners as well.
The goal is to prevent stress from compromising decision-making.
“If officers recognize their stress level, then they can change their course of action,” said Roberts, who teaches in ASU’s School of Social and Behavioral Sciences.
“If a friend or a partner told them they were getting worked up, they might not listen. But if they get an alert, perhaps they will be more likely to listen. That was the sort of thinking that led to this.”
Police stress, on and off the job
Roberts has spent years studying how stress affects police officers and their ability to regulate their emotions.
“My interest is in emotion — how you feel feelings and how you regulate those feelings,” she said.
Under stress, that regulation…
