Police officers perform many duties relating to public safety. Their responsibilities include not only preserving the peace, preventing criminal acts, enforcing the law, investigating crimes, and arresting those who violate the law but also directing traffic, community relations work, and controlling crowds at public events. Police officers are employed at the federal, state, county, and
Those who prefer a narrow definition of forensic psychology do not typically include police psychology in its purview. We have done so because police are sworn to uphold the law and are in many cases the gatekeepers to entry into criminal and juvenile courts, if not civil courts. Thus, psychologists who consult with police in
Police psychology, the practice of psychology in police settings, has been part of American policing since the late 1960s and has traditionally been a clinical endeavor by clinical psychologists. Although many large police agencies and some medium-sized ones employ full-time clinical psychologists, most agencies contract for part-time work with clinical psychologists who often maintain separate
Police selection is a process by which police agencies decide on which applicants are suitable for law enforcement training. The application of psychology to the selection of police officers has long been a part of the process, usually in the form of a psychological evaluation performed by a licensed clinical psychologist. The evaluation typically involves
Criminal cases often hinge on the testimony of eyewitnesses; sometimes those eyewitnesses are police officers. Police eyewitnesses perform the same tasks as civilian eyewitnesses: They provide descriptions to police officers during interviews, attempt to identify perpetrators from lineups, and provide testimony during court trials. Laboratory research, along with evidence from actual court cases, has shown
Police use of force is the application in a law enforcement capacity of physical or psychological coercion against citizens. Under the law, police officers have the authority to use force for enforcing laws, preventing criminal activity, defending others, and defending themselves. They have the discretionary power to use different degrees of force against citizens who
Police training is a process by which teachers communicate to police personnel job-related knowledge and skills and assist them in mastery of the material. Training occurs at recruit, field, and in-service levels. Sworn police personnel, nonsworn personnel, or police psychologists, who have special knowledge of police behavior, present the training topics. Psychological knowledge, in part
This entry defines police stress and describes its consequences, origins, and the individual and organizational methods to control it. Controlling stress can enhance the delivery of police services and guide officers toward healthy lifestyles. One definition of stress is the wear and tear our bodies and minds experience as we react to physiological, psychological, and
Over the past four decades, a rapidly growing specialty area of psychology has been that of psychologists working within the realm of law enforcement. Police psychologists are involved in the selection of employees; fitness-for-duty evaluations; various therapeutic programs, both individual and group; the evaluation, treatment, and referral of substance abuse, domestic violence, and gambling; the
Police occupational socialization is the process whereby individuals learn to be fit for performing police work by becoming aware of organizational and occupational practices, internalizing them, and carrying them out as participating members of their work group. Learning takes place through three social phases: pre-entry, entry, and in-service. This sequence involves individuals making a choice
Police calls for service sometimes involve the police interacting with and responding to people with mental illness. The dismantling of state mental hospitals, the changing mentally ill population, the tightening of requirements for receiving mental health support, and the offering of limited psychological services are bringing the police into contact with more people with mental
Police officers are gatekeepers to the criminal court system for those who call on their assistance, including domestic violence victims; as such, police exercise much discretion regarding how to respond to domestic violence. This research paper examines what criteria police officers use to make arrest decisions in domestic violence cases and what community, departmental, and
Police officers are gatekeepers of the criminal court system and must make a number of critical decisions during their interactions with citizens and in the performance of their duties. To make decisions, officers use normative criteria such as responsibility and blameworthiness as well as pragmatic and efficiency criteria such as the likelihood of conviction, the