DOI: 10.3886/icpsr06402
title: Role of Police Psychology in Controlling Excessive Force in 50 Large Cities in the United States, 1992
title: Archival Version

description: As part of the development of an information base for
 subsequent policy initiatives, the National Institute of Justice
 sponsored a nationwide survey of police psychologists to learn more
 about the characteristics of officers who abuse force, the types of
 measures police psychologists recommend to control police violence and
 the role of police psychologists in preventing and identifying
 individual police officers at risk for use of excessive force. Police
 personnel divisions in 50 large cities were contacted for names and
 addresses of the police psychologists who provided services to their
 departments. Data were collected using a telephone interview protocol
 that included 61 questions. In this study, excessive force was defined
 as a violation of a police department's use-of-force policy by an
 incumbent officer that was serious enough to warrant a referral to the
 police psychologist. Background information collected on respondents
 included years with the department, years as a police psychologist, if
 the position was salaried or consultant, and how often the
 psychologist met with the police chief. A battery of questions
 pertaining to screening was asked, including whether the psychologist
 performed pre-employment psychological screening and what methods were
 used to identify job candidates with a propensity to use excessive
 force. Questions regarding monitoring procedures asked if and how
 police officer behavior was monitored and if incumbent officers were
 tested for propensity to use excessive force. Items concerning police
 training included which officers the psychologist trained, what types
 of training covering excessive force were conducted, and what modules
 should be included in training to reduce excessive force. Information
 about mental health services was elicited, with questions on whether
 the psychologist counseled officers charged with excessive force, what
 models were used, how the psychologist knew if the intervention had
 been successful, what factors limited the effectiveness of counseling
 police officers, characteristics of officers prone to use excessive
 force, how these officers are best identified, and who or what has the
 most influence on these officers. General opinion questions asked
 about factors that increase excessive force behavior and what services
could be utilized to reduce excessive force.
description: Control of excessive force is a major problem for
 police departments and the communities they serve. Repeated showings
 of the videotape in March 1991 that documented Rodney King's treatment
 by police officers in Los Angeles created nationwide concern about
 police abuse of citizens. As a result, the Department of Justice
 called for research to determine the nature and extent of and best
 means to control the use of force by the nation's police officers. As
 part of the development of an information base for subsequent policy
 initiatives, the National Institute of Justice sponsored a nationwide
 survey of police psychologists to learn more about the characteristics
 of officers who abuse force, the types of measures police
 psychologists recommend to control police violence, and the role of
 police psychologists in preventing and identifying individual police
 officers at risk for use of excessive force. At the onset of this
 study, it was not known whether police departments were making full
 use of psychologists' skills and of the psychologists themselves as
 resources for proactive problem-solving, since no previous systematic
 attempt had been made to obtain this information. The objective of the
 survey was to answer the following questions: (1) What types of
 professional services do psychologists provide in police departments?
 (2) How are these services used by police departments to control the
 use of force? (3) How do psychologists characterize officers who abuse
 force, and are their acts a unique type of violence in the workplace?
 (4) Are there promising intervention strategies based on police
 psychology that can help police managers reduce the incidence of
excessive force?
description: Police personnel divisions in the 50 selected
 cities were contacted for names and addresses of the police
 psychologists who provided services to their departments. In most
 instances, the department provided the name of more than one
 psychologist. Each of the 95 psychologists identified was sent a
 letter requesting his or her participation and explaining the scope
 and methods of the study. The letter also provided a written guarantee
 of confidentiality for participants' departments. Data were collected
 using a telephone interview protocol that included 61 questions. In
 this study, excessive force was defined as a violation of a police
 department's use-of-force policy by an incumbent officer that was
 serious enough to warrant a referral to the police psychologist. The
 constraints of this operational definition limits selected interview
 responses to only the most serious offenders. Data were not captured
 on officers who use excessive force but are not referred to the
 department psychologist, or on officers who use force but against whom
charges are not pressed.
description: Background information collected on respondents
 included years with the department, years as a police psychologist, if
 the position was salaried or consultant, and how often the
 psychologist met with the police chief. A battery of questions
 pertaining to screening was asked, including whether the psychologist
 performed pre-employment psychological screening and what methods were
 used to identify job candidates with a propensity to use excessive
 force. Questions regarding monitoring procedures asked if and how
 police officer behavior was monitored and if incumbent officers were
 tested for propensity to use excessive force. Items concerning police
 training included which officers the psychologist trained, what types
 of training covering excessive force were conducted, and what modules
 should be included in training to reduce excessive force. Information
 about mental health services was elicited, with questions on whether
 the psychologist counseled officers charged with excessive force, what
 models were used, how the psychologist knew if the intervention had
 been successful, what factors limited the effectiveness of counseling
 police officers, characteristics of officers prone to use excessive
 force, how these officers are best identified, and who or what has the
 most influence on these officers. General opinion questions asked
 about factors that increase excessive force behavior and what services
could be utilized to reduce excessive force.
description: Response Rates: Sixty-five psychologists participated in the
 study, representing 68 percent of the 95 psychologists originally
 contacted. Nine psychologists (9.5 percent) were excluded from the
 study because their contact with the police department was too
 limited. Six psychologists (6 percent) refused to
 participate. Fifteen psychologists (15.8 percent) who agreed to
 participate were unable to be scheduled for interviews because of
conflicts.
description: Presence of Common Scales: None.
description: Police psychologists representing 50 of the largest police
 departments in the United States in cities with populations exceeding
 100,000 were chosen. Cities were selected from two sources: "Uniform
 Crime Reports for the United States" (1990) and the "Jeffers
Directory" (1990).
description: Datasets: 
DS0: Study-Level Files
DS1: Data File
DS2: SAS Data Definition Statements
description: Police psychologists serving police departments in cities
with populations over 100,000 in the United States.