Police psychology

predictions about the characteristics the offender is most likely to possess. Offender profiling can help police target their investigation in a more effective approach. Offender profiling is also known as criminal profiling and psychological profiling. Basically the overall purpose of offender profiling is to…

comes to rescue her. The realization hits her as she finds herself trapped between the wall and her killer. Terrified, she turns to face her end. Just as she does, a shot rings out through the chilly-night air. Morning dawns on this gruesome scene. Police get called in to assess what happened. Now as they comb through the scene, people start to gather around. They quietly whisper amongst themselves about what they think happened. Since this incident happened in the middle of the inner city, the…

According to Captain Joe Bologna of the Philadelphia Police Department, “every time a police officer fires his weapon, the reputation of the police department is on the line.” (time) Anytime an officer fires a gun, there are usually people who will claim excessive force and police brutality, even if the shooting was justified. This can cause citizens to lose faith in their department and makes an officer’s job harder. There are people that ask why couldn’t the officer wound someone and that they…

College of Criminal Justice, Associate Professors Scott Culhane John Boman, and Psychology Department Associate Professor Kimberly Schweitzer published their 2016 study in the journal Police Quarterly regarding the role body worn cameras play in public perceptions of whether police use of force is justifiable. Professor Culhane completed his post-graduate degree at the University of Texas El Paso in Legal Psychology from the University of Texas at El Paso. He is credited with co-authoring…

latin word “testify”, which in ancient Rome had meant testicle. In ancient Rome, “two men taking an oath of allegiance held each others testicles, and men held their own testicles as a sign of truthfulness while bearing witness at a public forum” (psychology today). While the Romans named this practice they did not create it. Amotz Zahovi called this the Handicap Principle. Amotz believed that this was the most sufficient way to obtain dependable information. How has the way we use witness…

help the apprehender find the offender of a crime. However, these profilers are professionals and know if their profiles are effective to their investigation or not. In the novel, written by Joan Esherick’s, Criminal Psychology and Personality of Profiling, an expert in criminal psychology, explains that profiling is best used in cases involving serial killers, arson, or rape. Not every crime is the kind in which a profile is beneficial to the case. In these cases, the statistical information…

include arms moving around, wiggling legs, touching hair, picking imaginary lint of shirt, and avoiding eye contact all proved a suspect’s guilt. Law enforcement interrogation included questions that automatically caused suspects to become nervous. Police would walk out the room and would arrive holding a folder stating that they had evidence that proved they had committed the crime, forcing the suspect to become more anxious. These interviews lasted about three to thirty hours long with no…

processing speed, reasoning capabilities, memory and concentration. In the police department, cognitive exams are very important and should be taken very seriously in employing new employees. Candidates that score particularly well in the cognitive test should be highly considered for the vacancies. The police department should try and hire individual that score well on the cognitive tests because it has been proven that police officer that scored well on the cognitive tests gather more detailed…

Public interactions with the police have been highly publicized throughout the news lately. Most of the publicity portrays police officers abusing the system and using violence in order to get the public to do what they want. The technological era is supporting this statement with videos of police officers making questionable decisions. Others believe that police officers are in a tough position and have one of the hardest jobs in the world. They have to make split second decisions that might…

Introduction Racial profiling is any action taken by police officers that is based solely on negative stereotypes about race, colour, ethnicity, ancestry, religion, place of origin, etc., rather than reasonable suspicion. The act of racially profiling an individual is a violation of rights under Ontarios Human Rights Code. Many interactions between black people and officers are considered racial profiling, some examples are; being followed or searched (this includes being strip searched),…