Many law enforcement officers called up to fight in Iraq and Afghanistan are bringing home heightened survival instincts that may make them quicker to use force.

Officers who spoke with The Associated Press and who responded to a survey by the International Association of Chiefs of Police and the U.S. Bureau of Justice Assistance reported having less patience when dealing with public complaints once they returned to their law enforcement jobs.

One officer says he felt compelled to fire his gun in the air to disperse an unruly crowd. Others say they feared being flanked when working crowd control. And others say that after seeing the hardships Afghans and Iraqis lived with, it's hard to care about noise complaints.