Psychological Skills Needed In a Police Officer

Psychological Skills Needed In a Police Officer

Psychological Skills Needed In a Police Officer

Introduction

Police psychology, practice of psychology in police settings, has been part of American policing since late 1960s and has traditionally been the clinical endeavor by clinical psychologists. Although many large police agencies and some medium-sized ones employ full-time clinical psychologists, most agencies contract for part-time work with clinical psychologists who often maintain separate private practices. The practice of psychology in police settings has also been the research, consultation, and training endeavor by psychologists who have backgrounds in, for instance, experimental, social, and industrial-organizational psychology. Therefore, generally, police psychology is the field of practice in which psychologists of different training investigate and apply psychological knowledge to police settings and problems. (Here, this does not include other law enforcement settings and professionals, such as sheriffs, marshals, or correctional officers, who at times perform job tasks similar to police officers.) Psychological services for police have traditionally involved evaluating police applicants, educating and training police officers, evaluating job tasks and duties, and carrying out fitness-for-duty assessments.

Evaluating Police Applicants

Since 1960s, organizations and commissions such as President's Commission on Law Enforcement and Administration of Justice, Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies, and International Association of Chiefs of Police have recommended that police agencies evaluate psychological fitness of police applicants. Today, most police agencies recognize and use the psychological evaluation as one part of selection of police officers. Typically, licensed clinical psychologists carry out evaluation. Some psychologists use the “select-in” evaluation strategy, whereby they look for applicants who demonstrate qualities necessary to be successful on job and recommend that police agencies accept them for law enforcement training. Other psychologists screen out applicants who demonstrate undesirable characteristics and recommend that police agencies no longer consider employing them. Many psychologists use both screen-out and select-in evaluation strategies, by which they screen out psychopathology and select in ideal police characteristics. Both focus on screening for suitable applicants. Evaluations typically involve administering the battery of psychological tests, carrying out the personal interview, giving situational tests, and making the selection recommendation. (Police boss study Forum, 1997)

Psychological test batteries administered by psychologists have included intelligence tests, personality tests, projective tests, and situational tests. Intelligence tests, such as Stanford-Binet Intelligence Test, measure applicants' cognitive abilities. Scholarly research has linked intelligence tests with success on job and in recruit training. Psychologists use personality tests to measure relatively stable characteristics or traits of applicants. Commonly used tests are Minnesota Multiphase Personality Inventory (MMPI), California Psychological Inventory (CPI), and Inwald Personality Inventory (IPI). These tests are self-report, paper-and-pencil personality inventories. Research has shown empirical support for their usefulness in predicting what police applicants might say or do on job—for example, being late or absent, using drugs, violating police procedures and rules, and using excessive force. Few psychologists continue to use projective tests, which ask applicants to respond to unstructured situations or stimuli, such as Rorschach Inkblot Test. Less frequent among psychologists is use of situational tests, in ...