| Abstract: | The past two decades have seen major transformations in the way police departments conduct business. These transformations
have impacted all aspects of policing from evidence collection to how officers perform their duties while on patrol. One aspect
of policing that is still in the throes of transformation is the role of the police psychologist. Picice psychologists have
moved from a beginning of counseling police officers involved in critical incidents (see Kurke & Scrivner, 1995) to a broad
range of law enforcement related activities. The traditional aspects of their jobs such as providing assistance to crisis
negotiation teams, conducting counseling sessions for officers, and developing and presenting in-service and cadet training
are part of an ever-changing picture of the police psychologist. Today's police psychologists operate at all levels of police
department. Some of the newer roles to emerge in recent years are organizational and management consulting, counseling crime
victims, and coordinating community involvement. This paper provides a framework for looking at both new and old roles of
police psychologist and to argue for an expanded and better defined role within the policing profession. |
