62 3 Police and Law Enforcement—Civil Forensics
are entrusted with a tremendous amount of power and with a great deal of discre-
tion in how they use that power. As a result, various methods have been employed
to assess the personality and any psychopathology exhibited by the officer can-
didates. Most frequently, psychological tests and civil service interviews are used
to ascertain this information. Some researchers argue that this information is only
detected by on-the-spot observation of on-the-street interactions (Toch, 1992).
With the increasing media attention to cases of police brutality, there is a grow-
ing concern about the mental health screening of police officers. Are these cases
examples of a few violence-prone men or are they more indicative of a "police per-
sonality" that pervades law enforcement? There exists a concern that the screen-
ing of officer candidates is insufficient at recognizing those officers who will be
unable to cope with the responsibilities of the job. Consider the following case
illustration.
Cameron's father had been a police officer and Cameron admired the "tough-guy"
image and excitement that he perceived to be embodied in police work. He had always
been outgoing and seemingly tearless. All of his friends and family knew that he would
be an excellent candidate for law enforcement. Cameron applied for a job with the
local police department. After what seemed like hours of psychological tests and pane!
interviews, Cameron was relieved to hear that he qualified to be on the police force.
Being a new officer on his probationary period, he was eager to belong and to perform
his duties to the upmost of his abilities. He had heard countless stories by the "veterans"
about the difficulty of gaining compliance from a particular category of civilians. In
addition, Cameron was warned that it was best to take a firm, consistent approach in
dealing with this group as suspects.
In his second month of duty, Cameron tried to obtain identification from a suspect
who fit this description of "difficult" civilian. The suspect met his expectations by being
belligerent and threatening. Cameron responded by being increasingly commanding and
forceful. The conflict escalated into an altercation between the suspect and Cameron.Literature Review
Conflicting conceptualizations of "police personality" are found in the literature.
Some researchers contend that individuals with certain personality traits are drawn
to police work (Cortina, Doherty, Schmitt, Kaufman, & Smith, 1992). Cameron's
fearless attitude would seem to have led him to police work. These researchers hold
that personality traits or any psychopathology present are detected during their
initial screenings for the police academy. Other researchers maintain that although
these individuals have similar occupational interests, it is really the police subculture
of violence and cynicism that leads to particular actions such as excessive force or
police brutality (Graves, 1996). In Cameron's case it is difficult to determine if it
was his personality characteristics alone or the influence of other officers that led
to the violent interaction with a civilian. Yet others maintain that years of working
with hostile civilians, occupational stagnation, and the loss of faith in our criminal