Introduction: Police stress is a pervasive issue stemming from various stressors inherent to the nature of the job, negatively impacting officers' well-being and job performance. 

Objectives: This study aims to assess stress levels among police officers, both in terms of operational and organizational stressors, while exploring the contributing factors. 

Methodology: A cross-sectional study was conducted in Hassan City taluk from February to April 2020, this study involved 114 police officers surveyed using a validated Police Stress Questionnaires for Operational (PSQ-OP) and Organizational (PSQ-OG) stress. Ethical Permission was obtained from Institutional Ethics Committee.  Informed consent was obtained from the participant. Descriptive data analysis included frequency, percentage, and mean scores, with SPSS software utilized for statistical analysis. 

Results: The participant pool consisted of 48 Civil Police Constables (CPC), 47 Civil Head Constables (CHC), 16 Assistant Sub-Inspectors (ASI), and 3 Police Sub-Inspectors (PSI). The average PSQ-OG stress score was 98.14, with the highest stress recorded among CPC (107.3 ± 22.74) and the lowest among PSI (64.33 ± 39.32). Similarly, for PSQ-OP stress, CPC recorded the highest average score (106.7 ± 21.8), followed by CHC (99.17 ± 18.6), ASI (78.3 ± 29.06), and PSI (63.3 ± 45.8). Stressors were associated with ineffective management, inadequate infrastructure, and societal judgment, work-related challenges impacting work-life balance, compromised health, and personal/family life. Conclusion: Police officers at all hierarchical levels experience moderate to high-stress levels. Interestingly, officers in lower hierarchy levels, like CPC and CHC, reported higher stress levels than ASI and PSI. This underscores the importance of addressing stressors at the operational level and through organizational improvements.