ABSTRACT
As discussed in Chapter 1 of this book, the use of psychological tests to aid in the evaluation and selection of police candidates is well established in the United States, with the foundation of such assessment dating back to the turn of the 20th century (Maloney & Ward, 1976). Lewis Terman of Stanford University was one of the field’s earliest pioneers and conducted one of the first documented studies of police selection in the United States (Reese, 1995; Terman & Otis, 1917). However, it was not until the 1967 President’s Commission on Law Enforcement and Administration of Justice that the psychological assessment and selection of law enforcement candidates became solidified in the United States (Benner, 1986; Reese, 1995). In the decades that followed, many changes occurred in the psychological tools that were developed for the selection of law enforcement candidates, the evaluation methods employed, and the laws governing the selection process. Now, as law enforcement psychology (i.e., the application of professional psychology with police and allied law enforcement groups) continues to develop and expand into the 21st century, evolutionary changes continue to punctuate this unique area of psychological practice in new and previously unforeseen ways.
