Police Selection Research Articles

Can We Identify Bad Cops Based on History? Base Rates of Historical Markers in Law Enforcement Pre-employment Evaluations

While psychometric police selection processes have progressively evolved, the efficacy of simple background information has not been extensively evaluated. This study examined the utility of base rate information to predict job performance among law enforcement officers. Pre-employment historical markers from bad hires were compared to good hires from a large sample of 1536 officers. Of this sample, 205 officers were categorized as bad hires if they were arrested, had greater than five misconduct episodes, or were terminated for cause within 5 years following hire. Base rates of 40 pre-employment history variables were compared for good and bad hires. Analysis of markers showed that bad hires had a significantly higher frequency of markers across family factors, mental health variables, conduct problems, and criminal justice outcomes compared to good hires. Among the largest differences were history of multiple physical altercations, outpatient psychiatric treatment, and events related to previous law enforcement employment such as employer reprimands, suspensions, or fitness for duty evaluations. Many other intuitive markers occurred too infrequently to analyze or showed no significant difference between good hires and bad hires in law enforcement settings. Base rates in addition to psychological test data are necessary aspects of the police pre-employment evaluation.

The impact of personality traits and professional experience on police officers’ shooting performance under pressure

We explored the impact of professional experience and personality on police officers’ shooting performance under pressure. We recruited: (1) regular officers, (2) officers wanting to join a specialised arrest unit (AU) (expected to possess more stress-resistant traits; pre-AU) and (3) officers from this unit (expected to also possess more professional experience; AU) (all male). In Phase 1, we determined personality traits and experience. In Phase 2, state anxiety, shot accuracy, decision-making (shoot/don’t shoot), movement speed and gaze behaviour were measured while officers performed a shooting test under low and high pressure. Results indicate minimal differences in personality among groups and superior performance of AU officers. Regression analyses showed that state anxiety and shooting performance under high pressure were first predicted by AU experience and second by certain personality traits. Results suggest that although personality traits attenuate the impact of high pressure, it is relevant experience that secures effective performance under pressure. Practitioner Summary: To obtain information for police selection and training purposes, we let officers who differed in personality and experience execute a shooting test under low and high pressure. Outcomes indicate that experience affected anxiety and performance most strongly, while personality traits of thrill- and adventure-seeking and self-control also had an effect.

The development of moral reasoning skills in police recruits

Purpose – Police officers are frequently confronted with moral dilemmas in the course of their job. The authors assume new police officers need guidance, and need to be taught at the police academy how to deal with these situations. The purpose of this paper is to obtain insight into the impact of socialization on police recruits’ knowledge of the code of ethics and their moral reasoning skills. Design/methodology/approach – The study applied a longitudinal mixed methods design, using two methods. The first method was a qualitative observation of integrity training sessions at five police academies in Belgium. The second method was a quantitative survey-measurement of recruits’ knowledge of the code of ethics and their moral reasoning skills at three points in time: the beginning of their theoretical training, before their field training and afterwards. Findings – The analyses show differences between the police academies in their integrity training sessions. Some of these differences are reflected in different levels of knowledge of the code of ethics. As for the development pattern of recruits’ moral reasoning skills, the study found almost no differences between the academies. Perhaps this is because recruits already have relatively high scores when they start, leaving little room for improvement during the one year training program. This suggests an important role of the police selection procedure. Originality/value – Previous research on socialization and police culture has focussed on recruits being socialized in a negative police culture where misconduct is learned. This is a negative interpretation of police integrity. A positive one refers to ethical decision making generally, and moral reasoning specifically. The impact of the socialization process on recruits’ moral reasoning is empirically understudied.

Police selection – implications during training and early career

Purpose – The cost of selecting and training new police officers is high. However, previous research has provided limited guidance on how to select the best applicants. The purpose of this paper is to enhance the understanding of the possibilities to select suitable applicants by using combinations of four common categories of selection methods, namely cognitive tests, personality inventories, physical tests, and rater-based methods (i.e. interviews). Design/methodology/approach – Using a sample of Swedish police recruits (n=750) the authors performed hierarchical multiple regression analyses, predicting four criteria – performance, satisfaction, retention, and health – at three consecutive time points (after two years of academy training, after six months of field training, and after the first work year). Findings – No group of selection methods consistently predicted all four criteria at the three time points. In most analyses more than one class of selection methods were statistically significant, but the findings did not support the use of rater-based methods. Practical implications – Instead of the common praxis of using interviews, the findings suggest an alternative praxis. This involves using the remaining information from cognitive tests, personality inventories, and general fitness tests that had been used in earlier hurdles to screen out unsuitable applicants. Originality/value – The study extends previous research by including several follow-ups, showing the value of combining different selection methods, and using alternative criteria of successful police recruitment (i.e. satisfaction, retention, and health).

Stakeholder Participation in the Selection and Recruitment of Police: Democracy in Action

It is now widely accepted that much police misconduct and corruption stems from the institutional culture of the police organization itself. The impact of this assertion is that remedial measures once thought to address police misconduct and corruption-such as, the exclusionary rule, tort or criminal suits against police officers, the possibility of internal police investigations, and hearings before citizen complaint review boards-while still important, have a declining significance when discussing the long-term, sustainable reforms needed to address the organizational roots of police misconduct. The institutional nature of police misconduct coupled with the inadequacy of other measures to effectively address police misconduct has encouraged many policymakers to embrace a system of reforms aimed at changing that organizational culture. This Article offers a modest proposal for ways in which the federal government could encourage or incentivize the inclusion of the community in the hiring and selection process. Specifically, this Article advocates that the federal government should require police departments within its jurisdiction pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 14141 to implement such programs. Furthermore, for jurisdictions that have not come within the purview of the United States Department of Justice's ("DOJ") federal pattern or practice authority, the government should encourage and incentivize local community involvement in hiring police officers by making grants to departments that devise successful programs.

Police Interviews of Sexual Assault Reporters: Do Attitudes Matter?

Sexual assault is underreported in the United States. Survivors are often reluctant to make police reports for various reasons; one is fear of revictimization by criminal justice professionals. Conversely, police officers often lack skills for interviewing crime victims. Posttraumatic stress reactions among victims can exacerbate the problem. Although some victims prefer female interviewers, it is not known whether they are more skilled. A sample of 429 police officers completed a written survey testing their rape myth acceptance and knowledge of how to interview rape reporters. A significant relationship between rape myth acceptance and interviewing skill was discovered. Although officer gender was related to interviewing skill, the effect was mediated by rape myth acceptance. Specific officer behaviors related to high rape myth acceptance were identified. Implications for selection of police to conduct victim interviews were discussed.

Holding out for a hero: selecting a chief of police

Little research exists regarding the process of selecting a chief of police. This paper uses focus group data collected from internal and external stakeholders in a medium-sized municipality to examine what stakeholders want in a new chief. What attributes stakeholders want to see in a chief of police is summarized including a discussion of where stakeholders differ and concur in their opinion regarding a chief of police selection. A secondary concern addressed in this paper is the ramification of funding sources on the successful implementation of community-oriented policing (COP) strategies by police chiefs. Stakeholders’ assessments of the Medium City Police Department indicated that there were problems with sustaining COP programs which were linked to their desires for a chief who would heroically revamp the department and relations with the community. Findings indicate that the ability of a new chief to set and meet goals is hindered, in this case, by management styles of command officers and by lack of resources for the police department.

Retrieving Ice Concentration From SMOS

The Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity (SMOS) Ice project explored the potential of retrieving sea-ice information from the SMOS satellite, a polar-orbiting L-band radiometer successfully launched in November 2009. Toward this end, radiance measurements were collected over the Northern Baltic during the Pol-Ice campaign. We test a simple ice-concentration retrieval algorithm on these data and compare the results with ARTIST Sea Ice (ASI) maps derived from the Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer on the Earth Observing System. All operational ice-concentration algorithms are based on the same principle which, for the campaign data, reduces to a linear scaling of the radiances because, effectively, only one channel was available. Because of biases introduced by the different footprint sizes of the two radiometers (airborne and satellite), the linear flight path, and pilot selection of preferred surface type, Pol-Ice and ASI concentrations were compared using three different levels of averaging. In the first case, the individual measurements from the airborne radiometer were compared with interpolated ASI values; in the second, they were averaged over the pixels in the ASI maps; and in the third, they were averaged by binning the ASI values in 1% intervals. The correlations were 0.59, 0.67, and 0.76, respectively. Because of the unique operating principle of SMOS, each ground point will be viewed at multiple effective angles within a short time span. It is proposed to exploit this extra information by interpolating to a single effective viewing angle.

Variables Predictivas del Aprovechamiento Formativo en la Policía Local

Police selection includes a period of training in which candidates acquire the relevant skills and knowledge for work. This study was carried out with the Local Police of Zaragoza. It examines the validity of general mental ability, the personality dimensions and theoretical knowledge applied to work, in order to predict training proficiency. A multiple regression correlational analysis and path analysis were carried out using the data of 240 candidates to be police officers. The results show that training proficiency can be predicted by general mental ability, theoretical knowledge applied to the job and three personality dimensions: conscientiousness, openness to experience and agreeableness. A causal model is presented, including the direct and indirect effects the variables have on training proficiency in the case of local police officers.

Impression Management in Police Officer Candidacy on the MMPI-2

It is well documented that candidates in employment situations attempt to present overly positive pictures of themselves that may be inaccurate. Police officer candidacy situations are not an exception. They are more critical to the public welfare, however, because of the sensitive nature of police officers as an interface between government and the community. For this reason, the study of impression management using devices that are employed in police selection is of great importance. This study used 36 college students to whom the MMPI-2 was administered, first under standard conditions (control condition) in which the students responded as they ordinarily would and second, under a set of special instructions (experimental condition) which instructed them to respond as if they were police officer candidates. The two profiles were compared. As hypothesized, the Lie (L) and Correction (K) scales were elevated in the experimental condition. An inspection of the clinical scales revealed that all tended to be lower in the experimental condition than in the control condition, with the exception of Masculinity-Femininity (Mf), Psychopathic Deviate (Pd), Paranoia (Pa), and Hypomania (Ma). Implications of these findings for officer candidate selection are discussed.

Integration of Pre-Employment Polygraph Screening into the Police Selection Process

The authors provide a polygraph primer for police psychologists involved in law enforcement personnel selection. Law-enforcement pre-employment polygraph examinations are a decision-support tool intended to add incremental validity to the personnel selection process. Problems stemming from the use of the polygraph may be related to misunderstanding of the polygraph test and to field practices surrounding the use of polygraphy in the police selection process. Potential problems can result from ineffective selection of test issues, poorly constructed test questions and misguided policies surrounding the use of the polygraph. The authors review the history of polygraph screening, research, and field practices, and suggest that using polygraph results alone to disqualify a candidate from employment is a misguided field practice. Suggestions are offered for maximizing the decision-support value of the polygraph. Polygraph examination targets are discussed, with emphasis on selecting actuarially derived predictors associated with increased success in law enforcement training and job performance. The authors provide recommendations for field practice, and propose that police psychologists may be most suited to effectively integrate the polygraph results and information into the hiring recommendation process.

The Coachability and Fakability of Personality-Based Selection Tests Used for Police Selection

The use of personality measures for safety force personnel selection has been increasing. Barrett et al.'s recent Public Personnel Management article titled “Practical Issues in the Use of Personality Tests in Police Selection” suggests that, due to issues of validity, managers should be cautious in using personality measures to select safety force personnel. Issues that commonly come up with personality measures are faking and coaching. Current research shows that managers should be concerned with faking and coaching because if training on personality measures is available, applicants who did not take the training will have little chance of being selected.

The Personality Assessment Inventory Borderline, Drug, and Alcohol Scales as predictors of overall performance in police officers: a series of exploratory analyses1

Previous studies have established the utility of self-report personality inventories in the pre-employment screening of police officers. The present study therefore sought to explore the relationship between the Personality Assessment Inventory (PAI) Borderline, Drug, and Alcohol Scales and performance as a police officer. The PAI results of 632 police officers who took the test as part of pre-employment screening procedures were used in discriminant function and multiple regression analyses to determine whether or not these scales are useful in the pre-employment screening of police officers. These scales did not predict performance as a police officer when the entire sample of 632 was used. However, the Borderline Negative Relations subscale combined with the Drug scale of the PAI were marginally predictive of the 132 poorest performing officers in the sample when an exploratory stepwise multiple regression model was used. The implications of these findings for police selection are discussed.

Making good cops in the twenty-first century: Emerging issues for the effective recruitment, selection and training of police in the United States and abroad1

Recruitment, selection and training have become critically important issues for police departments around the world in large part because of significant changes in the philosophy and nature of policing, higher expectations by their constituencies, and because of continuing efforts at professionalization. This paper highlights seven pressing issues, as at 2008, that will likely define recruitment, selection and training of police over the next several years. Two areas in recruitment and selection are discussed: proactive recruitment to promote diversity and college-education requirements. The paper then turns to five critical issues in police training: changing the pedagogy (andragogy is described), community and problem-oriented policing philosophies, multicultural/diversity training, technology, and counter-terrorism. The paper first examines the issues from an American perspective, but then each issue is considered through an international lens. This international focus offers a broader perspective that both highlights important differences between the USA and other countries and provides critical insights about lessons learned elsewhere.

Do Racial Minority Applicants Have a Better Chance to Be Recruited in Predominately White Neighborhoods? An Empirical Study

For decades, police departments across the nation have made notable progress in aggressively recruiting racial minority officers and female officers. The main controversy is primarily centered on the adverse impact of recruitrelated testing, such as psychological tests, on racial minority applicants. This study examines racial disparity in the police selection process by analyzing the effect of race on police department recruitment decisions. Results show that the applicant’s race is not correlated with the department recruitment decision. This study also finds that racial minority applicants are less likely to be recommended by psychologists on the basis of psychological testing and assessment. Interestingly, a psychologist’s recommendation does not have any significant impact on police recruitment decisions among the non-White group. Most importantly, this study finds that racial minority applicants in the police selection process have no apparent preferential privilege in a predominately White community.

Problematic police performance and the personality assessment inventory

A relative newcomer to personality assessment in the area of law enforcement is the Personality Assessment Inventory, or PAI. Earlier MMPI research in the area of police selection has focused upon antisocial behavior, control of aggression, and validity indices, particularly the L scale. In this study T scores for 800 male and female police officer candidates on the PAI scales Negative Impression (NIM), Positive Impression (PIM), Antisocial-Antisocial Behaviors (ANTA), Antisocial-Egocentricity (ANTE), and Antisocial-Stimulus Seeking (ANTS) were used as predictors of the criterion variables Insubordination, Excessive Citizen Complaints, and Neglect of Duty. Highly significant coefficients were obtained for ANTE as a predictor of Insubordination and Excessive Citizen Complaints. For Neglect of Duty, two significant coefficients were obtained, one for ANTS and another for NIM. Discussion centered on the fact that egocentricity is a predictor of Insubordination and Excessive Citizen Complaints, and Neglect of Duty is related to stimulus seeking.

Practical Issues in the Use of Personality Tests in Police Selection

Publication of meta-analyses concluding that conscientiousness predicts performance has increased the use of personality tests in police officer selection batteries. In this study, we argue that it is not always appropriate to blindly apply these meta-analytic findings in practice. Criteria for inclusion into meta-analyses for practical purposes are presented, as well as results of a meta-analysis based on these criteria. The results showed conscientiousness was neither an effective nor consistent predictor of law enforcement performance. Practitioners are cautioned against believing that there is good evidence that conscientiousness scales predict law enforcement job performance.

Psychological Testing and the Selection of Police Officers

Through a national survey of municipal police departments, this study identifies current selection and psychological assessment practices for police officers. Of the 355 police agencies invited to participate in the survey, 155 returned completed questionnaires (43%). Analyses of the extent and nature of assessment procedures revealed that the majority of police departments perform a background investigation, medical exam, interview with applicant, drug test, physical fitness exam, and polygraph test. Furthermore, more than 90% of responding agencies require a psychological evaluation of applicants, which shows a significant increase from prior surveys. Results from this study shed light on the changes and trends that have occurred in police selection in the past decade. Overall, the majority of police departments that responded used extensive and sophisticated selection measures, especially those departments serving larger cities. However, many agencies are not following public policy guidelines and psychological assessment recommendations, suggesting the need for further refinements.

Tearing Down the Wall: Problems with Consistency, Validity, and Adverse Impact of Physical Agility Testing in Police Selection

This article examines the literature on the physical demands of police work, the use of physical agility testing in police selection, and women's performance as police officers. A survey was conducted with 62 police agencies regarding their physical agility test and the representation of sworn women. Results indicate that the vast majority (89%) of agencies use some form of physical agility testing for entry-level selection, and agencies with a test have 31% fewer sworn women than agencies without such a test (15.8% vs. 10.9%). Results also demonstrate a striking lack of agreement regarding the physical capabilities that should be tested and the standards that should be used to evaluate successful performance. In light of these results, women's proven ability to perform as police officers, and the legal requirements of preemployment testing, the article concludes by reviewing alternatives for physical agility testing in police officer selection.

The MMPI-2 L scale as a tool in police selection

The MMPI has been used extensively in the selection of law enforcement personnel. Because police officer candidates have been preselected, however, individuals with obvious mental disturbance have been screened out of the candidate pool before evaluation. It is necessary to search for more subtle variables to serve as predictors of unsatisfactory future performance. The L scale is a subtle variable which can suggest potential for problematic behavior. The value of the L scale in the selection process is discussed.