Introduction
In his seminal work, A History of the Nine Principles of Policing, Robert Peel of the London Metropolitan Police (LMP) mentioned two important principles of policing. First, “no quality is more indispensable to a policeman than a perfect command of temper; a quiet, determined manner has more effect than violent action.” Second, “The securing and training of proper persons is at the root of efficiency.” This review will apply these principles in the context of law enforcer management and training.
The importance of temper control
When the term ‘temper’ is mentioned, it always refers to ‘bad temper’ because there is virtually no such thing as ‘good temper’. Bad temper is an uncontrolled expressions of anger and frustration (Meyers, 2014). Some people with bad tempers are narcissistic as well, perpetually caring for their own feelings and illusions of self-importance than on the feelings of others. Psychologists (e.g. Meyers, 2014) consider bad temper as abusive and those who are incapable of controlling it as bullies and abusers. In a law enforcer, bad temper is an ingredient of police abuse (i.e., abuse of police power and authority), law breaking, and even brass criminal behavior. Controlling bad temper is necessary to avoid behavioral mistakes in policing responsibilities. However, doing so requires police psychologists to be effective (Gupton, et al., 2011).
Adequacy of demeanor training in current law enforcement practice
Law enforcement scholars (Gupton, et al., 2011) tend to believe that demeanor training, even worse anger management training, must include psychological intervention services, such as confidential counseling, family counseling, and trauma therapy. It should be integrated as a core part of law enforcement training as well as ongoing psychological intervention program precisely because of three major reasons: having hired veteran soldiers with unresolved PTSD; having hired candidates with existing bad temper; and having law enforcers who experienced PTSD in the line of duty.
Developing police demeanor guidelines
Consistent with the Peel principles, here are two guidelines: (1) The safest recruitment policy is to hire only candidates without temper issues and uncured traumatic disorder; (2) Screening measures must include thorough psychological interview and testing; (3) Mental stress testing must also be employed to test the candidates’ capacity to withstand extreme policing work stress; (4) Any incident of bad temper in the line of duty must always be reported to the Chief of Police; and (5) Police temper misdemeanors must be treated seriously and be a ground for early retirement or discharge, depending on the violations of law committed.
Law enforcer development in bad temper control can be evaluated based on bad temper incidents per month with ‘zero incident’ as the acceptable standard, ‘1-2 incidents’ as a red flag for monitoring and intervention, and ‘>2 incidents’ as ground for review. A leave of absence (length as recommended by the police psychologist) or a reassignment to less incident-provoking environment may be chosen while psychotherapy is in progress.
Conclusion and recommendation: Areas for training priorities
In a demeanor training, particularly with bad temper control, the focus should be in psychological evaluation (e.g. anger management testing: PsychTests AIM, 2015) of new hires and active law enforcers to establish a baseline state of bad temper control and determine areas of weaknesses and needed psychological interventions, such as psychotherapy (e.g. cognitive restructuring, relaxation training, coping skills, etc.) or medication (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors) or both (Mayo Clinic Staff, 2015), will be focused later on during training through the guidance of the police psychologist or psychiatrist.
References
Gupton, H.M., Axelrod, E., Cornell, L., Curran, S.F., Hood, C.J., Kelly, J. & Moss, J. (2011,
August). Support and sustain: Psychological intervention for law enforcement. The Police Chief, 78(1), 92-97.
Mayo Clinic Staff. (2015, August 25). Intermittent explosive disorder. Mayo Clinic.org.
Retrieved from: http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/intermittent-explosive-disorder/basics/treatment/con-20024309.
Meyers, S. (2014, February 12). How men bully women: Bad tempers and tantrums. Psychology
Today.com. Retrieved from: https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/insight-is-2020/201402/how-men-bully-women-bad-tempers-and-tantrums
PsychTests AIM. (2015). Anger management test – Abridged. Psychology Today.com. Retrieved
