I represent Candidates who receive NYPD psychological disqualifications. Psychological evaluations for law-enforcement positions should use a variety of courses to determine the candidate’s suitability.
Frequently candidates will say or will hear from others that they failed the written psychological. The written psychological exam is only one portion of the candidate’s exam and generally the following procedure should be used to integrate the findings of the written psychological exam with the other portions of the psychological evaluation.
One of the most comprehensive screening manuals for law enforcement positions is the California Peace Officer Psychological Screening manual or POST.
It describes a five step process as follows:
- To determine if the written responses were inconsistent or if candidate over-reported or underreported problems.
- To evaluate the responses against the general population and against the Peace Officer candidate population’s responses.
- To evaluate the personal history from all sources. These sources could be school, work or psychological history. To determine if the written test scores corroborate the personal history.
- To determine how the oral psychological observations of the interviewing psychologist compared to test scores in personal history.
- To take a candidate’s written scores, personal history and clinical observations to either support or oppose the candidate’s suitability for the position.
Based on the above, the psychological evaluation is more than just a written exam. There are responses on the written exam that could trigger strong concerns for a candidate’s suitability. More often though it is the combination of written testing, personal history and the in person oral psychological interview taken together and evaluated together that determine a candidate’s suitability.
If you have questions or you have received a NYPD disqualification and would like to schedule a free consultation, please contact me at 516 248 0040.
Email: kevin@sheerinlaw.com
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