PSYCHOLOGY IN POLICING

Psychology in Policing



Psychology in Policing

Introduction

Provision of psychological services for police candidates (i.e., employment screening) has become recognized as a sub specialization, called police psychology, in clinical psychology. Individuals who conduct this type of screening may be labeled police psychologists or general clinical psychologists.

A psychologist who provides services to police agencies, especially assistance with selection and screening of potential employees, may fit into the mold recognized as the police psychologist or may just be a psychologist who consults with police agencies. Either way, conducting police psychological pre-employment screening is important and should be consistent (Davis & Rostov, 2008). Police psychologists, regardless of affiliation with the agency, should be similar in what they identify as appropriate screening tools and why.

Discussion and Analysis

According to authoritative sources (Federal Law Enforcement Training Center, 2009; Reeves & Goldberg, 1996) there are more than 19 thousand police agencies in the United States employing more than 1 million full time police officers (Sourcebook of Criminal Justice Statistics Online, 2008). Any individual in the United States could potentially interact with a police officer on any given day. The psychological characteristics of those selected to become police officers are or should be of importance to every person in the U.S. It follows that those who evaluate the psychological characteristics of police officers, along with the process used, should be the best available.

Being a police officer is a tough career. Police officers habitually deal with the negative aspects of human nature and often must do so with a non emotional or objective approach, while deeply constrained by law and policy (Buetler, Nussbaum, & Meredith, 1988; Dantzker, 2005). Buetler et al. (1988) argued the unique nature of policing demands a selection process to find the individuals who are capable of coping with the demands of police work in a satisfactory manner. Hargrove and Hiatt (1989) noted that police officers have constant contact with people and are often in volatile situations.

They concluded the assessment of an applicant's interpersonal skills is important in the screening process. Issues of police use of force, corruption, and suicide raise questions about the psychological well-being of those who become police officers (Cochrane, Tett, & Vandecreek, 2003). Tanigoshi, Kontos, and Remley (2008) suggested law enforcement is one of the most dangerous, stressful, and health-threatening occupations in existence. Today psychological testing is used for diagnostic purposes, aptitude testing, intelligence testing, neurological testing, and job placement (Buchanan, 2003; ...