Police and Public Safety Psychology Notes

History

  • Throughout the 20th century, community psychologists consulted with police, mainly on an "as needed" basis.
  • Early contributions included cognitive and aptitude testing for police applicants.

Police and Public Safety Psychology (PPSP)

  • PPSP involves the application of psychological principles and clinical skills to law enforcement and public safety.
  • The goal is to assist law enforcement and public safety personnel in their duties effectively and safely.
  • Psychologists in PPSP engage in:
    • Assessment (e.g., screening, fitness-for-duty evaluations)
    • Clinical intervention (e.g., post-shooting incidents, stress reactions)
    • Operational support (e.g., hostage negotiation, criminal activity analyses)
    • Organization consultation (e.g., gender issues, excessive force concerns)

Recent Milestones in PPSP

  • In 2011, the American Board of Professional Psychology (ABPP) established the American Board of Police and Public Safety Psychology for certification.
  • In 2013, the American Psychological Association recognized PPSP as a professional specialty.

Training in PPSP

  • Requires advanced education and training.
  • Doctoral programs in clinical psychology offer concentrations in police and public safety psychology.
  • Some organizations provide graduate, postdoctoral, and continuing education opportunities.

Police Selection

  • The process by which police agencies select officers by screening out undesirable qualities or selecting in desirable ones.
  • Applicants are assessed for physical fitness, cognitive abilities, personality, and job-related abilities.

History of Police Selection

  • Used since the early 1900s.
  • 1917: Psychological and psychiatric screening became standard in many agencies.
  • 1950s: IQ tests were used to select officers.
  • Today: Includes background checks, medical exams, selection interviews, and personality assessments.

The Police Selection Process

  • Involves two stages:
    • Job analysis: Defining necessary knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSAs) for a good police officer.
    • Construction and validation: Developing an instrument to measure these qualities and ensure they relate to performance.

Job Analysis

  • Job analysis identifies how, where, and why a job is done.
  • It’s a systematic procedure for identifying skills, abilities, knowledge, and psychological characteristics needed for successful public safety work.

Preemployment and Post-Offer Psychological Evaluation

  • Accreditation standards require psychological evaluations of public safety candidates.
  • Evaluation methods include job analysis and personality measures, possibly with interviews.

Validity

  • Concurrent validity: A test's ability to identify a person’s current performance.
  • Predictive validity: A test's ability to predict a person’s future performance.
  • Face validity: What the test appears to measure superficially.

Selection Instruments

  • Selection interview
  • Psychological tests
    • Cognitive ability tests
    • Personality tests
  • Assessment centers (situational tests)

Psychological Tests - Cognitive Ability Tests

  • Measures aptitude (memory, logic, observation, comprehension).
  • Moderate predictive validity, slightly higher for training success.

Commonly Used Inventories in Police Screening

  • Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory–Revised (MMPI-2)
  • The Inwald Personality Inventory (IPI) - measures the suitability of law enforcement and public safety candidates based on a variety of personality traits and behavioral patterns
  • California Psychological Inventory (CPI)
  • Personality Assessment Inventory (PAI)
  • NEO Personality Inventory–Revised (NEO PI-R)
  • Sixteen Personality Factor Questionnaire–Fifth Edition (16-PF)

Personality Tests

  • Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI)
    • Identifies psychopathology.
    • Moderate predictive validity.
    • Screening-out tool.
  • Inwald Personality Inventory (IPI)
    • Developed specifically for police selection.

Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory

  • Designed to measure psychological maladjustment.
  • Revised in 1989 as MMPI-2.
  • Consists of 567 true/false items.
  • Clinical scales measure pathology.

Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-Revised-Restructured Form (MMPI-2-RF)

  • Published in 2008.
  • Uses 60% of items from MMPI-2 but is considered a new test.
  • Requires separate research and validation.

Fitness-For-Duty Evaluation (FFDE)

  • Conducted after disturbing events or personal crises.
  • Determines whether an officer has the mental and psychological stability to continue as an effective officer.
  • Done with informed consent but results may not be explained.

Special Unit Evaluations

  • Psychological assessments for special teams (e.g., SWAT, TRT) and undercover agents.
  • Determine psychological fitness for high-stress positions.

Police Culture

  • Varies in terms of style, values, purpose, and mission.
  • Can differ by rank and may contain subcultures.

Psychological Intervention Responsibilities

  • Provide support to officers, colleagues, families, and the organization.
  • Includes stress management, dealing with posttraumatic stress, and preventing police suicide.

Stress Management

  • Identifies and manages stress to prevent psychological and physical health problems.
  • Addresses stressors, burnout, PTSD, and critical incident trauma.

Operational Responsibilities

  • Assist in hostage-taking incidents, crisis negotiations, criminal investigations, and threat assessments.
  • Police psychologists are more directly involved in crisis than in hostage situations.

Consulting and Research Activities

  • Involves the design and development of organizational policies, processes, and instruments for measurement and feedback of individual job performance.

Police Stress

  • Occupational stressors include shift work and human suffering.
  • Organizational stressors include excessive paperwork and lack of advancement.

Consequences of Police Stress

  • High blood pressure, cardiovascular disease, and stomach ulcers.
  • Depression, anxiety, aggression, and PTSD.
  • Burnout, reduced efficiency, and early retirement.

Preventing and Managing Police Stress

  • Physical fitness programs
  • Psychiatric, professional counseling, and psychological services
  • Family assistance programs
  • Critical incident debriefings
  • Adaptive coping strategies