A 2018–2019 Snapshot of Psychological Screening Rejection Rates: Perceived Trends Reported by Police/Public Safety Psychologists

Problems with the interjurisdictional regulation of psychological practice.

“…In what has been dubbed, "a national competency crisis," our nation's demand for competency evaluation services of criminal defendants is outpacing the resources available through state-based forensic mental health systems (Murrie et al, 2023). Also, police departments are facing a recruitment crisis, which has coincided with a perceived relaxation of hiring standards (Inwald & Thompson, 2021) and related concerns about police misconduct (Huff et al, 2018). In several jurisdictions, there are mandated requirements (minimum expectations) for acceptable preemployment psychological evaluations of police candidates; but concerningly, these parameters are set at levels failing to reach the field's standard of practice (Corey et al, 2023).…”

Examining Views of Police Chiefs and College Students Regarding Drug Disqualifiers for the Hiring of Police Officers in Arizona

“…Many states, including Arizona, have agencies that govern the minimum requirements that applicants must meet when applying to a law enforcement department, but each department can also have stricter criteria. According to PERF (2019), a sizable number of police departments have been relaxing some of their hiring standards to expand their potential applicant pool (see also Inwald & Thompson, 2020). Over the past 5 years, 42.1% of agencies surveyed had relaxed some form of their hiring standards.…”

“…While a myriad of factors potentially contributes to this crisis, one particularly salient issue is that hiring disqualifiers can reduce the potential applicant pool. Such disqualifiers include criminal history, education, physical capabilities, and appearance (Inwald & Thompson, 2020; McMullen & Gibbs, 2019; PERF, 2019). One type of disqualifier that is attracting increased attention is preemployment drug use.…”