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Police Personalities
by Michelle Calderon, staff writer for AnaiRhoads.org
Although psychological tests have been used for years, it is only recently that law enforcements have used the knowledge available to make predictions concerning personality traits of police officers. It can be a powerful tool for screening out unqualified applicants. The Minnesota Multi-phasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) and the California Personality Inventory (CPI) tests proved that traffic officers and deputies tended to be” high defended, energetic, dominant, well adjusted, independent, spontaneous, socially flexible and free from anxiety-related conditions." The results suggest that "there are personality dimensions that set officers aside from the general public." (Surrette, 2003, p. 279).
However, society demands a policing style bounded by the time period. Today when community policing is being practiced across the nation, selection of “ideal” new police officers include qualities such as: "incorruptible, well-adjusted, people-oriented, free of emotional reactions, and logical" (Lefkowitz, n.d.). Introversion is seen as undesirable while dominance and leadership desirable. Burbank Police Department's Sergeant Jay Jette focused on "assertiveness, having a commanding presence, being fair, and remaining objective to make sound decisions" while rejecting "prejudice and excessively passive personalities" (Calderon, 2005). When asked about expectations from women, Sgt. Jette believed that an "even greater sense of assertiveness is needed because of the lack of respect from the suspects given to some female officers." (Calderon, 2005).
Using a trait approach to the study of personalities, "experts have consistently found anywhere from 6-13 dominant traits among police officers that include authoritarian, suspicious, insecure, honorable, cynical, hostile, loyal, secretive, conservative, individualistic, efficient, prejudiced, and dogmatic." (Skolnick 1966; Neiderhoffer 1967; Brown 1981; Wilson 1990).
With so many to choose from, one feature seems to stand out regardless of the source: that is leadership ability. Although it has been defined as dominance, incorruptibility, assertiveness, commanding presence, and even authoritative, no one can deny that police officers are not followers. Perhaps the difference in preference for terminology depends on simply the policing style of the department: traditional vs. community-oriented policing.
But are police officers created or born that way? Socialization also results in personality change. Few people have enough strength to avoid the temptation of falling into habits of behaving, knowing, and moralizing that accompany development of the police personality. It is for this reason that police occupational subcultures have developed. "They share the same work environment, same stressors; deal with the possibility of death frequently. What results is a shared perception among officers that only other officers can truly understand them, the "us versus them" attitude frequently enhanced when officers work in particularly hostile environments where there is little community support" (Embar-Seddon, 2005). North Hollywood Police Officer John Caprarelli stated that "The command presence that the job entails changes the man. Once conditioned to that type of persona, a person cannot help but accept it as learned behavior." (Calderon, 2005).
However, Sergeant Jette disagrees and believes that a man does not have to drop his life and completely change over to his image as an officer. He added that while trainers can develop assertiveness, it is already a character that the officer already possesses. Like many types of psychological attributes, biology decides a person’s predisposition to a particular trait, including leadership (b, n.d.). However, dominance can also be linked to "causation of criminality" (a, n.d.).
Psychological testing might be able to predict certain personalities, but are they able to link these personalities to predict future behaviors? In other words, can psychological testing differentiate between "bad cops" from "good cops"? While demands and experiences can sometimes sway an officer to develop unworthy traits that could lead to deviance, is it fair to say that it is already inherent in that officer to have a tendency for deviance? Theorists in many fields will produce all kinds of hypothesis that lead to criminality; environment and upbringing being a few. But nevertheless, whether for positive or negative use, leadership remains a key trait of a police officer. As far as how a department should choose new recruits on the basis of psychological or personality testing may involve a much more complex questionnaire that entails a combination of strong ethics and criminal tendency.
References:
a. (n.d.). Dominance-seekinghttp: A neglected criminogenic trait. Retrieved August
19, 2005, from: http://io.uwinnipeg.ca/~mwahn/dominance.html
b. (n. d.). Leadership. Retrieved August 19, 2005, from:
http://llanes.panam.edu/edul6384/introductiontoleadership.htm
Brown, M. (1981) Working the Street. NY: Russell Sage Foundation.
Calderon, M. (2005, August 14). The Men in the Uniform. Essay for CJA370.
Calderon, M. (2005, August 19). Interview of Burbank PD Sergeant Jay Jette by
Telephone.
Embar-Seddon, A. (2005). Week 4 Lecture: CJA370.
Grinder, D. (2003, October 10). People-Oriented Leadership. The Police Chief
Magazine, volume 70. (10). Retrieved August 19, 2005, from:
http://policechiefmagazine.org/magazine/index.cfm?fuseaction=display_arch&article_id=112&issue_id=102003
Lefkowitz, J. (n.d.). The Police and the Criminal Jutice System. Retrieved August 18, 2005, from: http://uwf.edu/swright/Spring%202005/ch%206%20Police%20and%20the%20Criminal%20Justice%20System%20-%203up.pdf
Neiderhoffer, A. (1967). Behind the Shield. NY: Anchor Press.
Skolnick, J. (1966). Justice Without Trial. NY: Wiley.
Surrette, M. A., Ebert, J. M., Willis, M. A., & Smallidge, T. M. (2003). Personality of
law enforcement officials: A comparison of law enforcement officials' personality
profiles based on size of community. Washington:.Vol.32, Issue 2; (279).
Retrieved August 19, 2005, from:
http://proquest.umi.com/
Wilson, C. (1990). Cop Knowledge. NY: Basic.
(2005). Police Issues: Who guards the guardians? Retrieved August 19, 2005, from:
http://faculty.ncwc.edu/toconnor/111/111lect06.htm
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