Fire all of the bad cops and

[Jedi Guy]

11. Yes, psychological testing is part of the recruitment process, at least in larger departments.

I worked as a dispatcher for the police department in a large city in Arizona. Our recruitment process involved a thorough background check (in which they contacted relatives, former employers, former coworkers, and even neighbors), a polygraph test, two different personality tests, and two interviews with a psychologist from the department's behavioral sciences unit. I'm sure there's a fair bit of variance since not every department can afford all that, and that's particularly true of sheriff's departments.

What's missing, at least in my opinion, is follow-up care. Every officer, regardless of how long they've been a cop, should have regular evaluations with a psychologist, just as a temperature check to see how they're doing and where their head is at. Every six months feels about right to me. These check-ins would allow behavioral sciences to spot potential psychological issues before they become problematic.

There should also be mandatory evaluations after any major incident, by which I mean any incident that involves serious injury or loss of life.