Police psychology

Police psychology

is a specialized field of psychology addressing issues specific to police personnel and other public safety workers.

What police psychologists do:

Police psychologists work in three main areas supporting police forces to:

1) enhance police organisational structures and processes (e.g. pre-employment screening for police and public safety personnel, leadership and command assessment, assessing organisational climate),

2) enhance police operations (e.g. working in crisis and hostage negotiation teams/hostage barricade team, developing offender and terrorist profiles for investigation and crime prevention, investigative psychology, teaching the psychology of warning systems and evacuations),

3) providing services for officers and their families (e.g. peer counselling, counselling programs, resilience and life skills building).

Organisations employing police psychologists

There are several police and law enforcement agencies in the world today that employ psychologists and these are:

1. The Federal Bureau of Investigation - at the ]

2. The National Police Improvement Agency (UK) - ]

3. The Hong Kong Police - ] - Psychological Services Group

4. The Japanese Police - - National Research Institute of Police Science] at the Criminology and Behavioral Sciences Section

5. Singapore Police Force ] - Police Psychological Services Division, Police Headquarters

6. Behavioural Sciences Unit, Singapore, at the .

Professional organisations for/supporting police psychologists

1. Society of Police and Criminal Psychology [http://psychweb.cisat.jmu.edu/spcp/about.html]

2. International Association of Chiefs of Police. [http://www.theiacp.org/div_sec_com/sections/psych.htm]

3. University of Liverpool - School of Psychology [http://www.liv.ac.uk/psychology/ccir/op.html]

4. Consortium of Police Psychological Services (COPPS)

References and readings on police psychology

1. Ainsworth, P. B. (2002). Psychology and policing. Cullompton, Devon: Willan Publishing.

2. Blau, T. H. (1994). Psychological services for law enforcement. New York: Wiley.

3. Brown, J. M. & Campbell, E. A. (1994). Stress and policing: sources and strategies. Chichester: John Wiley & Sons.

4. Kurke, M. I. & Scrivner, E. M. (Eds.) (1995). Police psychology into the 21st century. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

Investigative psychology as a sub field of police psychology

Investigative psychology is a sub-speciality within police or law enforcement psychology that has gained it’s own following ( [see http://www.i-psy.com/index.php).] This field was started by Professor David Canter at Liverpool (U.K.) and it brings together issues relating to investigative information, the drawing of inferences and the ways in which law enforcement decision-making can be supported through scientific research. Investigative psychology grew directly out of empirical research. This field covers the full range of investigation related activities such as : a) detection of deception, b) investigative interviewing, c) statement analyses d) behavioral analyses of crimes.