The psychological status of police officers has come into question after several police-involved shootings across the country in the last few months. But how does that type of screening for police officers work during the hiring process?
Pre-hiring psychological tests for police candidates depend on available resources for local departments – including whether nearby psychologists specialize in police psychology or if tests specific to pre-employment are used, as opposed to general psych evaluations. That’s according to Carrie Steiner, a clinical psychologist who conducts those tests and has worked with law enforcement in DuPage, Kane and Kendall counties, along with the FBI and U.S. Marshals.
Steiner says her pre-employment psychological testing criteria for police includes recommendations from the International Association of Chiefs of Police and the American Psychological Association. She says her proctored tests could take about an hour, but the one she took as a former Chicago cop only lasted about five minutes.
Regardless, Steiner says she thinks most psychologists do the best they can to identify those who might not be fit for the job.
“I think that a lot of them do use tests that are specific for pre-employment, and they take the time, but unfortunately it’s not necessarily consistent across every department pre-employment evaluation,” Steiner said.
Usually, Steiner looks for a few things while evaluating a police candidate – things like potential substance abuse, anger management issues and overall ability to solve problems.
“You want an officer to be an independent person who can think on their feet, but you also want them to still be able to be open enough to hear both sides of the story, to be able to have critical thinking…and things like that,” Steiner said.
Steiner also says a big part of that testing is to also evaluate the candidate’s ability to solve problems. She says a diagnosed disorder like anxiety, depression or bipolar is not a deal-breaker for applicants if they can demonstrate their condition is under control and won’t interfere with their ability to do their job.