Police Recruitment, Abuses and Other Issues

You have highlighted some extremely valid points in the areas of training that forensic psychology professionals operate in within police organizations; one especially being fitness-for-duty assessments as they help identify those individuals most suitable for police work, they help determine if policing officials can continue a career in police work or if said individuals are unfit for duty because they can potential do more harm to themselves, their partners and the policing agent. We can surmise that training is paramount to the success and effectiveness of police work. However, it is important to note the costs associated with said training or the loss of unstable officers. Our text states that upwards of $500,000 are spent in officer training (Ainsworth, 2002), how do you think this impacts the use of psychological screening?
Explain some of the questionable use of force methods being utilized by officers recently in the media? How can policing agencies be good stewards of their resources while selecting the very best into the police force?
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Psychological Screening & Resource Management

Psychological Screening and Testing are fundamental to police recruitment process. It has been standard procedure as it has become a valid measure in helping the police recruit candidates that are ‘fit for purpose’ and ‘fit for function’ in the policing culture and all the responsibility it entails. Screening tests are often text-based and focused on intelligence. According to Cox McCamey & Scaramella (2013), “most police agencies continue to use written entry-level tests as screening devices in spite of their obvious shortcomings. Despite the intensive effort to improve written tests, there is little convincing evidence that test scores can predict an officer’s performance over any extensive period of time. Bartol and Bartol (2008) argued that screening of applicants for police positions should go beyond simply using standardized intelligence tests.” Thus, multi-assessment procedures including emotional stability and personality characteristics are also deemed essential as in the long term – personality predicts integrity and decision-making outcomes which are all integral in keeping an ethical, intelligent, responsive and effective police force. Budget-wise this means a higher fund towards screening and testing as affecting these requirements into recruitment means specialist work that go beyond the remit of the department’s police psychologist. Additionally, physically and …