Criminology Careers

Psychological Screening for Police Officers

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By Timothy
Timothy
TimothyRoufa
Roufa
Roufa
Updated October 23, 2017

Perhaps one of the most important but least understood aspects of pre-employment screening for law
enforcement and other criminal
criminal
criminaljustice
justice
justicecareers
careers
careers is the psychological exam. Often one of the last steps in
the hiring process for police
police
policeofficers
officers
officers,
officers the psychological exam can make or break your chances at a law
enforcement career.

By some estimates, more than 90 percent of law enforcement agencies in the United States use some
form of psychological screening of their applicants.

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 By comparison, only about 65 percent use a polygraph
polygraph
polygraphexam
exam
exam,
exam and 88 percent employ drug screening.

With so many agencies placing their faith in a psychologist's opinion, many would-be police officers are
no doubt wondering what's the big deal with the psych test and what can you do to increase your
chances of success?

What Psychological Screening Isn't

Before we discuss what the psych test is, let's talk about what it isn't. Pre-employment psychological
screening does not determine a candidate's sanity or lack thereof. Failing to pass the psychological
exam does not mean you're crazy. Instead, it simply means that a career in law enforcement is probably
not the best fit for you.

There are a lot of demands placed upon law enforcement, and aaaday
day
dayin
in
inthe
the
thelife
life
lifeof
of
ofaaapolice
police
policeofficer
officer
officer can be
emotionally, mentally, and physically taxing. There will be days when you are forced to stand firm yet
polite in the face of tremendous verbal abuse, and there will be times when you are exposed to horrific
scenes.

The fact of the matter is, not everyone is cut out for a career as a cop. While it takes all kinds of
personalities to make up an effective police force, there are certain traits all officers should ideally
share.

Conversely, there are also certain traits that are agreed to be undesirable in law enforcement officers.

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 The psychological tests tend to focus on identifying those undesirable traits more than look for those
desirable traits. It's important to remember that if your screening finds one or more of those traits, it's

not a reflection on your value, your sanity or your personality; it's very narrowly focused toward your
suitability to become a police officer.

Psychological Screening as a Hiring Tool

Psychological screening is just one more tool that many police agencies use to ensure they hire the best
candidates for the job. It is part of a multi-faceted hiring process that can include a basic
basic
basicabilities
abilities
abilitiestest
test
test,
test a
thorough background
background
backgroundinvestigation
investigation
investigation,
investigation a credit
credit
creditcheck
check
check,
check a polygraph exam, physical
physical
physicalabilities
abilities
abilitiestesting
testing
testing,
testing and
medical screening.

The exam is a battery of tests that includes several components. Typically, the exam starts with a pre-
test self-interview or evaluation. Next, comes a series of multiple-choice tests or surveys. Finally, there
will usually be a sit-down interview with a psychologist.

The evaluation takes into account the totality of all of these components to help the psychologist render
a final opinion about the applicant's suitability for the law enforcement profession. That determination
is usually expressed in one of two ways: low risk, medium risk or high risk for hiring; or acceptable,
marginal or unacceptable for hiring.

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 The Purpose of Psychological Screening

Pre-employment psychological screening evaluates a number of personality traits to help formulate an

opinion about whether or not a candidate would be a good hiring choice. According to Dr. Gary
Fischler, an assistant professor of psycholo y at the University of Minnesota and a forensic
forensic
forensicpsychologist
psychologist
psychologist
whose practice specializes in the evaluation of potential law enforcement officers, those traits include:

• Impulse control
• General intelligence
• Judgement
• Ability to perform boring or tedious tasks
• Reasonable courage
• Honesty
• Integrity
• Personal bias or lack of bias
• Ability to tolerate stress
• What motivated the candidate to choose law enforcement
• Dependability
• Ability to deal with supervision
• Appropriate attitudes towards sexuality
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 • Appropriate attitudes towards sexuality
• Prior drug use

These particular traits represent areas that have been determined over time to be important areas to
explore when evaluating law enforcement candidates.

Understandably, law
law
lawenforcement
enforcement
enforcementofficers
officers
officersare
are
areheld
held
heldto
to
toaaahigh
high
highethical
ethical
ethicalstandard
standard
standard,
standard and thus the psychological
exam serves as one more way to screen out candidates who may demonstrate unacceptable or
undesirable personality traits.

What You Should You Expect During Your Screening

When you arrive at the psychologist's office, the first thing you'll probably notice is the crowd. Often,
there are several candidates being evaluated at one time. The good news is, they'll probably be just as
nervous as you are.

You'll probably be given an initial questionnaire that will ask you a series of questions about your
personal history. Past drug use, what you consider to be your personal strengths and weaknesses, past
employment, education and personal background are all likely to be inquired about.

After the initial survey, you will be presented with a series of multiple-choice personality assessments
which will likely include the Minnesota
Minnesota
MinnesotaMultiphasic
Multiphasic
MultiphasicPersonality
Personality
PersonalityInventory
Inventory
Inventory (MMPI), among others. Plan
to spend several hours completing these Scantron surveys, which will often be comprised of statements
with which you will be asked whether you strongly agree, agree, are neutral, disagree or strongly
disagree.

During the personality assessment phase, you will probably encounter the same or similar questions
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 multiple times. This is by design and helps evaluate your consistency and honesty. Theses questions are
built into the assessment to help identify indicators of deception to make sure that candidates are being
truthful with their answers.

After the personality surveys, you will probably participate in a face-to-face interview with a
psychologist. The psychologist will probably ask you questions about the answers you provided on the
survey and on your self-evaluation. This is your opportunity to clarify your responses. Once all the
phases are complete, the psychologist will make a report of her opinion and forward it to your hiring
agency.

The Effectiveness of Pre-Employment Psychological Screening

According to a 2003 study by researchers from Wright University, more than 90 percent of the over
12,000 law enforcement agencies in the United States use psychological testing as a component of their
hiring processes. Given the expense associated with such screening, are pre-employment psychological
assessments worth it? Do they even work?

Most agencies utilize personality assessment tools, which have been validated as accurate predictors of
behavior over years of study. Because of the vast amount of data available to back up the validity of
these tests, police departments and psychologists alike are fairly confident that psychological screening
does indeed work.

Psychological Assessments for Police Departments

Interestingly, data suggests that the psych exam typically only screens out about 5 percent of those
tested. With so much on the line, is it worth these departments' money to go to the added expense and
effort if they're losing such a small percentage of applicants in this particular phase?
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 y g p g pp p p

Consider that a larger law enforcement agency may receive more than 1000 applications per month
from people hoping to become police officers. Of those 1000 applicants, 50 will be disqualified as a

result of the psychological assessment. That's 600 applicants disqualified per year, just for one
department.

Imagine the potential cost to the agency and, worse, the community, if those 600 officers, who were
found to have exhibited undesirable traits, were given a badge, a gun, and authority. Rather than ask
whether the cost of the exam is worth it to the agency, it may be more prudent to ask if it is worth the
risk not use psychological screening.

How You Can Pass the Psychological Exam

The first thing you need to do is eliminate the notion of passing or failing the psych test. The better
question is, "how can I have the best chance for success on the psychological assessment?"

To be successful, you must first and foremost resolve, to be honest. Most assessments have hidden
questions and triggers built into the test to let the psychologist know if you're trying to be deceptive.
These include repetitive or similar questions and other questions that will raise red flags if answered a
certain way.

If you try to answer the way you think they want you to answer, it will be plain as day that you're trying
to gloss over your personality and that you're not being honest. This is a sure-fire way to be found to be
unacceptable or high-risk. The best way to be successful is to be yourself. Answer every question
honestly and let the chips fall where they may.

You also want to put your best foot forward and dress
dress
dressfor
for
forsuccess
success
success.
success Wear appropriate business attire --
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 ties for men, pants suits or business-appropriate skirts and blouses for women -- and adhere to normal
grooming standards. Remember, you're representing not only yourself here, but your employing
agency, as well. Be sure to dress the part.

What Happens if You Fail the Psychological Evaluation

Again, it's important not to think in terms of pass or fail, but of whether or not you should be working in
law enforcement. If you "fail" the psych, it doesn't mean you're crazy or even that you're a bad person. It
should, however, make you take stock and make sure that a career
career
careeras
as
asaaapolice
police
policeofficer
officer
officer is what you want to
do.

If, after an honest self-evaluation, you are convinced a law

law
lawenforcement
enforcement
enforcementcareer
career
career is in fact for you, you
should try to find out exactly what issues caused the psychologist to consider you to be high risk or
unacceptable, and you should consider how to correct those traits. In any case, you will probably have
to sit out of the hiring process for a year or longer before you can apply with the same agency again.

No Need to Psych Yourself Out

Taking the psychological assessment is probably even more nerve-wracking than the polygraph
polygraph
polygraph,
polygraph but it
doesn't have to be. Remember, it's just one of many aspects of the hiring
hiring
hiringprocess
process
process.
process The good news is that,
because of the expense, if you get to the psychological exam, you're probably close to being hired. In
fact, it very well may be your last hurdle toward landing a job.

There's truly no need to be nervous. Remember to be yourself, be professional and be honest. You are
who you are. There's nothing wrong with that. If all goes the way you hope, you'll be working as a police
officer in no time. In the event you don't make it through, then it's better to find out the job isn't for you
now as opposed to when it could be dangerous for you or someone else.

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 Job Market Tips

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