Psychologists/ Psychological Services

Core Technologies

The new sets of skills that psychologists brought to law enforcement agencies defined the core technologies. Federal discretionary funds from the Law Enforcement Assistance Administration (LEAA) encouraged law enforcement to use psychological tests to screen police officers and sheriff's deputies [Page 387]and created a psychological screening specialization. To a lesser extent, LEAA funds also were instrumental in psychologists becoming involved in operational areas such as assisting in criminal investigations and developing a hostage negotiation capacity in police departments. Success of those efforts provided support for developing counseling programs for officers, particularly following line-of-duty critical incidents, and training programs on psychological issues also emerged. With this evolution came the recognition that law enforcement personnel were subject to unique stressors, leading psychologists to develop stress management programs. Currently, there is a growing emphasis on wellness and disease prevention approaches to respond to police stress.

Gaining Acceptance

Initially, the tradition-clad departments were not fully accepting of psychological services. Psychologists had to work to gain credibility and to solve professional practice issues. Questions emerged, such as, “Who is the client—the applicant or the organization; or, for counseling programs, the officer or the organization?” The latter affected confidentiality of communications, generally identified as the cornerstone of psychological services, but not fully understood in nonhealth organizations that have operated as closed systems. Many of these issues were resolved by state laws that govern the practice and licensure of psychologists. Yet these issues can still emerge in the specialization involving psychological examinations that assess officer fitness for duty.

Prevalence

Psychologists have made significant inroads into improving psychological functioning in the highly traditional occupations that are responsible for public safety and law enforcement in this country. Three national surveys (1988, 1994, 2002) present confirming evidence that the use of psychologists by police and sheriffs continues to increase. Findings show that psychology has made a strong impact on policing since first introduced in the 1960s, and that psychological services are becoming institutionalized in law enforcement. These events signify a major cultural shift.

Key Events that Strengthened Culture Shift

The broad acceptance of psychologists reflects a major cultural shift in policing across the country. A series of key events supported this shift.

• 1.
  FBI Symposia—A series of week-long police psychology conferences hosted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (1984–1994) brought psychologists together to discuss issues relative to providing services in law enforcement agencies.
• 2.
  Police psychology presence achieved in professional organizations—Two examples are the Psychological Services Committee of the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) and the Police & Public Safety Psychology Section (Division 18) of the American Psychological Association (APA).
• 3.
  APA Police Chiefs Roundtable Series—Fifteen years after affiliating with APA, police chiefs met with an APA governance committee and sought input on managing problems that affect the quality of American policing.
• 4.
  APA Monitor on Psychology—This publication has included articles (2000–2002) about psychologists working with law enforcement showing the breadth of their activities.

Models of Service Delivery

How services are actually delivered in law enforcement agencies varies, but some models have become more prevalent. Many departments use consultants to provide services, which is the most common model; others link to Employee Assistance Programs. A model that is more prevalent in large departments provides a full range of psychological services to officers and the organization through in-house psychological service units. In 1995, 61 service activities were identified that are now provided by police psychologists. They were categorized into three general areas: Individual Service Activities; [Page 388]Program/Technical Support, and Organizational Support. These data are another measure of the growth of psychology in law enforcement.

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