When selecting law enforcement personnel for security agencies in the United States, it has become significantly important to ensure that they are persons who exhibit sound behavioral and emotional functioning. This is particularly true at a time when the policing agencies are faced with excessive force complaints, police suicide, community policing initiatives, allegations of hiring processes that are negligent and violence against inmates. It is thus critical for hiring agencies to make decisions that account for the applicant’s psychological characteristics when hiring. Therefore, pre-employment psychological evaluation in the policing industry is a specialty in the determination of the suitability of the public safety of the individual to ascertain that he meets the specified criterion for the psychological suitability as mandated by the law and other criteria that have been established by the hiring agencies (Cochrane, Tett & Vandecreek, 2003). This paper, therefore, an examination of the national methods, standards, and tools used for conducting pre-employment psychological screening assessments. This paper includes the accepted standards for pre-employment psychological evaluations, aims of the assessment, key components of the pre-employment screening, ethical implications, and potential legal aspects and how screening protects police officer recruit.
In pre-employment psychological screening suitability according to the national standards, the applicant is required to be free from mental or emotional conditions that may adversely affect their performance of safety based responsibilities and duties in the police force. They must also possess the ability to withstand psychological demands that are inherent to the prospective position. The national and state laws give guidelines to be used by agency executives, psychologists, and public safety agencies in overseeing, conducting and managing pre-employment screening programs. The national standards require that such an evaluation be carried out by examining normal-range personality traits, characteristics, and behaviors of individuals at both pre-offer and post-offer stages of the recruitment program. This assessment must be structured and administered by qualified healthcare professionals who gain informed consent of the interviewee.
The ICAP Act of 1984 has The Police Psychological Services Section that provides for the direct, rapid as well as two-way consultations between psychologists and the police chiefs. These guidelines direct how examiners hired by the policing agents need to understand issues related to police screening in the practice. The introductory part of the guidelines defines with clarity the public safety positions as to law enforcement positions such as correctional officers, emergency dispatchers, and police aides. The recommendations of these guidelines are that pre-employment psychological assessment is only one component of the whole police selection process. When conducting clinical assessments of the applicants, the practitioners need to be aware of public safety positions; federal and state laws relevant to the police hiring and that only certified psychologists should conduct the examination (Super, 2006). It also dictates the collection of data with important attributes to consider the effective performance of applicants in their duties is collected in the psychological tests. Also, the administered psychological instruments must be job-related, objective and validated before the actual employment screening occurs.
The pre-employment psychological evaluation in the police force includes the examination of the emotional, social and behavioral characteristics of an individual that are essential in enhancing the successful performance of the law enforcement tasks. The emotional factors that must be examined include the stability in impulse and anger control, maturity, flexibility, stress management and self-esteem. The behavioral components include the applicant’s ability to follow laws and regulations, prior drug and substance use patterns, job adjustment history and response to trauma. While the social components included in the pre-employment screening, include family and work relationships, assertiveness, empathy, cultural sensitivity and interpersonal characteristics. The elements are designed in the evaluation to elicit an adequate representation of applicant’s capacity to performing law enforcement officers’ duties and responsibilities.
Before the administration of psychological instruments and interviews during pre-employment screening of the police department, it is imperative that the examiner or the hiring officer considers the ethical issues applicable to their current status Such consideration may be effected by disclosing information required by the applicant so that they can make decisions if they give their consent in the examination (Super, 2006). The hiring agency must inform the applicant of nature as well as the objectives of the evaluation and the intended recipients of the information. It must also confirm the reality of the client, possible use of the evaluation and information garnered and the degree of the confidentiality guaranteed in the study. The applicant should always ensure that the disclosure is written and duly signed by him.
After the psychological assessments have been carried out, the public safety administrators that make employment decisions needs to be provided with written reports. This data needs to be suitable for evaluating the applicant’s suitability and should be backed by test data and interview results. The report should contain the rating and the recommendations that should be justified by the data. It can also include reservations of the psychologist regarding the validity and reliability of the test results. This reduces any chances of legal battles that may be carried out by applicants who may be dissatisfied. Also, the report must be well structured by considering its relevance, and how informed consent was obtained so as to make the psychological assessment legally binding. The identities and confidentiality of the report must also be guaranteed under ethical guidelines as well as the law. The screening carried by qualified examiners protects the police agencies from hiring individuals with qualities that may be detrimental to the police service (Cochrane, Tett & Vandecreek, 2003). It ensures that only qualified and psychologically stable people are hired into the police service.
References
Cochrane, R. E., Tett, R. P., & Vandecreek, L. (2003). Psychological Testing and the Selection of Police Officers A National Survey. Criminal Justice and Behavior, 30(5), 511-537.
Super, J. T. (2006). A survey of pre-employment psychological evaluation tests and procedures. Journal of Police and Criminal Psychology, 21(2), 83-87.
