Chapter 2

Police Psychology

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 Chapter 2

Video: in the library online (on demand)

Cop Counselors (46 min) 2001

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 Police Selection

• A process by which police agencies select police officers

• Can screen out those with undesirable qualities or select

in those with desirable qualities

• Applicants usually assessed for:

• physical fitness, cognitive abilities, personality, and
job-related abilities

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 A History of Police Selection

• In place since the early 1900s:

– 1917: Intelligence tests
– 1950s: Personality tests
– 1960s-70s: Psychological/psychiatric screening becomes
standard

• Today:
— Background checks and selection interviews
— Higher education requirements
— Personality assessments, cognitive ability tests, etc.
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 The Police Selection Process

From a research perspective, the police selection

process involves two stages:
– Job analysis
– Construction and validation

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 Job Analysis

• The goal is to define what KSAs make a

good police officer:
• Knowledge
• Skills
• Abilities
• Can conduct a job analysis using:
• Survey methods
• Observational techniques
• Interviews with staff

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 Problems with Conducting a Job
Analysis

• Numerous problems can be encountered:

– KSAs not stable over time
– Different KSAs for different jobs
– Disagreement over important KSAs
• Despite problems, core KSAs can be agreed on,
including:
• High motivation
• Sensitivity to others,
• Good communication skills, etc.

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 Construction and Validation

• The goal is to:

– Construct instruments to measure KSAs
– Ensure the KSAs are related to job performance
– i.e., valid predictors
• The most common measure of validity used in
this context is predictive validity

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 Problems with Construction &
Validation

Numerous problems can be encountered:

– Deciding what job-performance measure to use
– Punctuality
– Complaints
– Commendations, etc.
– Different performance measures may provide
different results
– Peer vs. supervisor ratings

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Validity of Police Selection
Instruments

• Selection interviews

• Psychological tests
– Cognitive ability tests
– Personality tests

• Assessment centers
– Situational tests

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 Selection Interviews

• Selection interview is one of the most common procedures

used
• Questions are asked to determine if the applicant possesses
relevant KSAs
• Research examining predictive validity is mixed
– Due in part to low levels of agreement between interviewers

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 Cognitive Ability Tests

• Cognitive ability tests are used to assess abilities:

— Verbal
— Mathematical
— Memory
— Reasoning abilities
• Research examining predictive validity indicates higher validity
scores for predicting training success than job performance
– Personality variables may be important to consider

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 Personality Tests

• Two of the most commonly used personality

tests for police selection:
– Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory
(MMPI)
– Inwald Personality Inventory (IPI)

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 Minnesota Multiphasic Personality
Inventory (MMPI)

• The MMPI was developed to identify

psychopathological problems (e.g., depression)
• May be useful for screening out unsuitable police
candidates
• Research examining predictive validity indicates
significant, but low validity scores

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 Minnesota Multiphasic Personality
Inventory (MMPI)

• Large scale study of MMPI-2 (Weiss et al., 2013):

• Included 4,348 police officers
• Assessed predictive validity of the Lie Scale (Lie Scale
assesses degree to which test taker is “faking good”)
• Results indicated Lie scale score was a significant predictor
of problematic police behaviour as later rated by police
supervisors

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 Inwald Personality Inventory (IPI)

• The IPI was developed specifically for police

selection
• Measures personality traits and behaviours that are
relevant to policing
• Research examining predictive validity indicates
that the IPI is slightly more predictive than the
MMPI

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 Assessment Centres

• A facility where the behaviour of applicants is observed

by experts
• Primary selection instrument used is the situational test
• i.e., real-world simulations of policing tasks
• Research examining predictive validity indicates
significant, but low validity scores

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 Police Discretion

• Police discretion involves knowing when to

enforce the law and when to allow for some
latitude
• Discretion is required in a wide range of police
tasks

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 Importance of Police Discretion

Police discretion is required because:

– Some laws are vague and were not intended to be
fully enforced
– Full enforcement would alienate the public
– Full enforcement would overwhelm the criminal
justice system
– Full enforcement would deplete limited police
resources

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 Problems with Police Discretion

Most commonly cited example of the

inappropriate use of police discretion:
• Racial profiling: the initiation of police action (e.g.,
traffic pullovers) based on the race of an individual
rather than any evidence of wrongdoing
• General consensus that racial profiling does occur in
Canada (e.g., Ontario Human Rights Commission
(2003))

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 Areas Where Police Discretion is
Used

• Youth crime (discussed in Ch. 12)

• Offenders with mental illness
• Domestic violence (discussed in Ch. 13)
• Use of force situations

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 Offenders with Mental Illnesses

• Encounters with mentally ill offenders more common

since deinstitutionalization
• Police responses typically include:
– Informal resolution
– Escort to psychiatric facility
– Arrest
• Problems with accessing mental health system often
leads to criminalization of mentally ill individuals

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 Use of Force Situations

• Use of force situations receive much attention but

only account for a small number of police-citizen
interactions
• Section 25 of the Canadian Criminal Code states
that use of force can be used by the police on
reasonable grounds (requires discretion)

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 Canada’s Use of Force Model

• Provides guidance with respect to:

– Factors to consider
– Appropriate level of force
• Instructs officers to consider the following:
– Situational factors
– Subject’s behaviour
– Officer’s perceptions
– Tactical considerations

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 Police Stress

• Policing involves high levels of stress for officers

and their families
• Causes and consequences of stress vary
considerably from officer to officer

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 Preventing & Managing Police
Stress

A variety of stress prevention and

management strategies now exist within
policing:
– Informal support networks
– Physical fitness programs
– Professional counseling
– Family assistance programs
– Critical incident stress debriefings
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 Adaptive and Maladaptive Coping

• One strategy that shows promise is teaching police

officers about different coping strategies:
– Maladaptive (e.g., reliance on alcohol) and
– Adaptive (e.g., enhanced communication skills)
• Training police officers to use adaptive coping
strategies can result in:
– General health improvements and
– Enhanced work performance

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 Psychological Debriefings

• Consists of brief psychologically-oriented intervention

delivered to officers after distressing event
– Includes social support and venting of emotions
– Education about stress responses and coping mechanisms
• Mixed findings on efficacy in reducing stress:
– Meta-analytic studies show effectiveness for reducing
stress
– Small or no effect on reducing PTSD symptoms
specifically

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