Psychiatric screening of civil service candidates with particular reference to police applicants.

This prelimary report has reviewed the activities of a Medical Review Board for a Civil Service Commission. The responsibility of the Board is to review conflicting data in cases where the hiring authority has attempted to exclude a candidate, particularly a police candidate, on the grounds that the applicant is mentally unfit to perform the duties of the position. This rule has been applied primarily to police applicants, secondarily to fireman applicants, and rarely to other. Psychiatrists who participate must be aware of the underlying conflicts within civil service systems, the possibility of manipulation, and the rigidity of the system which is designed to protect the greatest number. Civil service systems have limited discretion on personnel policies. Therefore, psychiatrists must be careful not to act as arbiters for social institutions without a sound and meticulous basis for their participation. For those psychiatrists who participate in the process, the urgent need to do so in accord with professional standards is stressed, recognizing that standards change and that the nature of participation will be scrutinized by many in society outside the profession.     

Diversifying the police applicant pool: motivations of women and minority candidates seeking police employment

Given the media attention to police killings of unarmed men of color, police agencies have increased their focus on the diversity of their applicant pools. Despite their efforts, policing leaders across the United States have cited challenges in recruiting a diverse police force and are exploring evidence-based solutions. However, the bulk of the literature on motivation to seek a career in policing is dated and includes small samples of women and minority respondents. The purpose of this study is to provide contemporary insight into reasons of women and minority candidates for applying to a police department. Thus, this study focuses on women and minority applicants to a large policing agency in the northeastern United States, asking respondents an open-ended question about their motivation to apply. Policing as a childhood dream, making a difference in the community and the opportunity to help people, and believing policing was a good transition from military to civilian life were the most commonly cited reasons for applying. Salary, benefits and job security were the least cited reasons for applying for a police position. Other findings and policy implications are discussed.     

Testing types: A review and test of police types

This paper offers a review and comparison of five major typologies of individual police officers, concluding with the suggestion that the five typologies contain a total of four major distinct types. An independent data set is then used in a secondary analysis to test empirically the existence of the four generic types. The test results provide nothing to support the notion that the four types actually exist; no empirical counterpart was found for any of the hypothesized generic types.     

An exploratory examination of pre-employment psychological testing of police officer candidates with a hispanic surname

For many years, potential police recruits have had to undergo a variety of pre-employment tests. The testing process includes physical and psychological procedures. In more recent years the psychological testing has received more scrutiny with some states requiring the conducting of more than one procedure. Of particular popularity among psychological testing tools has been the Minnesota Multiple Personality Inventory (MMPI). While the discussions continue as to the veracity of this test for helping choose police candidates, little has been said about the racial or ethnic influence. This article examines a 15-year cohort of potential police recruits having a Hispanic surname as to the outcomes of their MMPI scores.     

The perceived levels of job satisfaction among police officers: A descriptive review

Whereas job satisfaction is a popular research topic among industrial and organizational psychologists, police organizational researchers have all but ignored the area of job satisfaction. Considering its link to many organizationally important factors, such as productivity, morale, and personnel turnover, research on job satisfaction in policing should be important. The identification of how satisfied police officers are with various jobrelated factors can be extremely useful to the police executive. This article examines perceived satisfaction of a purposive sample of 2611 police officers, with respect to 23 job-specific and three global job satisfaction items.     

The status of women police officers: An international review

This paper reports on a survey of English-language police department websites, annual reports and other reports in order to identify key aspects of the status of women police internationally. Findings are reported for England and Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland, Eire, the United States, Canada, Australia (eight departments), New Zealand, South Africa, Ghana, Nigeria, India, Pakistan, Hong Kong, Papua New Guinea, and Fiji. Data on the proportion of female officers were available from 18 of 23 locations, with a range between 5.1% and 28.8%. Recruit numbers were available for six locations, and ranged between 26.6% and 37.0%. Limited data on rank and deployment indicated overall improvements. Available longer-term trend data suggested that growth in female officers was slowing or levelling out. Overall, the study showed an urgent need to improve gender-based statistics in order to better inform strategies aimed at maximising the participation of women in policing.     

Professionalization and unionization of police: A Delphi forecast on police values

The Delphi Forecasting technique was utilized to assess the general direction and magnitude of broad future trends in the occupationally-related values of police officers. Two panels of experts were established and utilized in the Delphi Process: one composed of veteran police officers and the other consisting of law enforcement educators, top echelon police administrators, attorneys, and social ethicists.Two major trends emerged in the course of the study: a movement toward professionalization and a movement toward unionization. These two movements were found to embody generally conflicting sets of occupationally-related values.The increasing emphasis of police chiefs and their administrators on managerial efficiency was identified as the critical factor influencing the future of these trends.     

A view into police stress

High levels of stress can be found in many occupations and professions. Police work has become one of the more recognized of the high-stress professions. Divorce and suicide rates are found to be extremely high among police officers. There are several explanations as to why this high level of stress exists. Today’s police officer needs to be aware of the dangers that are associated with high stress and should be able to recognize the symptoms. In an effort to gain a better under-standing of this area, the following study was done. As a result of a search and analysis of police-stress related literature this study examines the causes of stress, how stress can be recognized, and how to successfully cope with the job-related stress.     

Suspicion formation among police officers: an international literature review

Recent research on racial profiling has renewed attention on how police officers develop suspicions about citizens, and how these suspicions influence the official behavior of police. In order to guide the current research, a review of the wealth of existing qualitative and quantitative research on this topic is necessary. This literature review examines the existing international research in psychology, sociology, and criminology on police officer development of suspicion. It also lays out a framework for organizing the findings with four broad methods of suspicion development: stereotypical perceptions about typical criminal offenders, prior knowledge about specific citizens; incongruent circumstances, and suspicious nonverbal cues. It concludes with the few studies linking officer suspicions to official police behavior.     

Comparing U.S. and European police subcultures: A field study

This article is a satire of sociology and field anthropology research on comparative police behavior; it uses humorous anecdotes to make a serious point. The author argues that until police supervision is undertaken by civilian review boards, police behavior will never conform to community morality despite attempts at police reform. To support this argument, the author compares U.S., German, Italian, Russian, and French police subcultures in an attempt to calculate (a) the correlation between police behavior and its conformity to community morality, and (b) whether a high correlation results from a high degree of civilian oversight. The author concludes that, because no country has appreciable civilian oversight, and because the police of no country conform to community morality, there is therefore a perfect correlation between lack of civilian oversight and lack of police conformity to community morality.     

A comparison of Chinese and the U.S. police cadets’ occupational attitudes

While police attitudes and behaviors have been the subject of a large number of studies conducted since the 1960s, very few studies had assessed Chinese police officers’ work-related attitudes and compared them with those of the U.S. police cadets. Using survey data collected from 263 Chinese and American police cadets, the research empirically tested whether Chinese and American police cadet attitudes differed across four attitudinal dimensions: aggressive patrol, order maintenance, legal restrictions, and distrust of citizens. Bivariate and multivariate results showed that Chinese cadets displayed occupational outlooks that distinguished them from their American counterparts. Chinese cadets supported aggressive patrol and were more distrustful of citizens than their American counterparts. American cadets were more favorable of order maintenance activities and more accepting of legal restrictions compared with Chinese cadets. Implications for future research and policy are discussed.     

从警察执法权威缺失透析暴力袭警问题

近年来,公安民警在执法过程中遭遇暴力袭击的事件频发,不仅严重阻碍了正当执法工作的进行,而且对人民警察的人身安全构成了极大威胁,本文试从当前警察执法权威缺失的角度对暴力袭警的问题进行探讨.     

Procedural justice and police legitimacy: a systematic review of the research evidence

Objectives

We undertook a systematic review and meta-analysis to synthesize the published and unpublished empirical evidence on the impact of police-led interventions that use procedurally just dialogue focused on improving citizen perceptions of police legitimacy.

Methods

The systematic search included any public police intervention where there was a statement that the intervention involved police dialogue with citizens that either was aimed explicitly at improving police legitimacy, or used at least one core ingredient of procedural justice dialogue: police encouraging citizen participation, remaining neutral in their decision making, conveying trustworthy motives, or demonstrating dignity and respect throughout interactions. The studies included in our meta-analyses also had to include at least one direct outcome that measured legitimacy or procedural justice, or one outcome that is common in the legitimacy extant literature: citizen compliance, cooperation, confidence or satisfaction with police. We conducted separate meta-analyses, using random effects models, for each outcome.

Results

For every single one of our outcome measures, the effect of legitimacy policing was in a positive direction, and, for all but the legitimacy outcome, statistically significant. Notwithstanding the variability in the mode in which legitimacy policing is delivered (i.e., the study intervention) and the complexities around measurement of legitimacy outcomes, our review shows that the dialogue component of front-line police-led interventions is an important vehicle for promoting citizen satisfaction, confidence, compliance and cooperation with the police, and for enhancing perceptions of procedural justice.

Conclusions

In practical terms, our research shows the benefits of police using dialogue that adopts at least one of the principles of procedural justice as a component part of any type of police intervention, whether as part of routine police activity or as part of a defined police crime control program. Our review provides evidence that legitimacy policing is an important precursor for improving the capacity of policing to prevent and control crime.     

A methodology for assessing citizen perceptions of police

This study was initiated to determine perceptions that Wichita community residents hold toward their police. A scale, Citizen's Perception of the Police, was developed. Race and dogmatism were examined as variables influencing perceptions. Non-white residents evaluated police less favorably than did whites. No significant difference was found on level of dogmatism in evaluating the police. The methodology for developing the scale is described. Applications of these methods to other communities was suggested as well as the importance of assessing citizen perceptions of the police to obtain data which will optimize the setting of goals for police-community relations programming.     

A comparative analysis of police vehicle pursuit policies

The written pursuit policies of 47 state law enforcement agencies and the nation's 25 largest cities were subjected to comparative analysis. Qualitative analysis of the policies focused on factors justifying pursuit, physical operation of the police vehicle, circumstances of operation, and external factors. The policies also were rated quantitatively on a continuum ranging from allowing officers a great deal of judgment in the conduct of a pursuit to discouraging all pursuits except as a last resort. Most policies were found to permit a great deal of judgment, although cities tended to be more likely than states to place restrictions on pursuits.