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Incidents involving police use of excessive force are witnessed across the country
nearly every day, and seem to be unending. The roll call of such inhumanity include the
following:
- The beating of Rodney King in Los Angeles,
2) The killing of Freddie Vela, a Detroit youth shot while riding his bike by
an intoxicated police officer that had been involved in a one-car traffic
accident,
3) Malice Green, beaten to death by Detroit police officers who were later
convicted of his murder,
- Jose Iuralde, an unarmed homeless man shot several times by Detroit police officers,
- Richard Tromer, who died from a severe beating and strangulation in
July 1994 while in protective custody by Detroit Police;
6) Jorge Guillen, a Latino under treatment for schizophrenia aUegedly
beaten by Chicago, police. He died from asphyxiation, left for dead in his own blood,
- Abner Louima of New York City, who suffered unspeakable horrors at the hands of New York City police officers,
- Franklyn Reed, a Black male 27, who was shot in the back by a
Litchfield, Conn. police officer while on his knees and hands raised in
January, 1999
- and last, but certainly not least, Amadou Diallo, a Black immigrant from Guinea, who was unarmed but nevertheless died in a hail of 41 shots by New York police officers who had mistaken him for a rape suspect in February, 1999 just to name a few.
The "Rotten Apple" theory states that deviant police officers are those who
psychological testingfails to screen 0111. This concept isfavored bypolice administrators
because it offers a quick and ea~ysolution to police deviant behavior. However, there is
a growing body of literature that suggests that it is the stressful occupation that is
policing that is the fertile soil from which police deviant behavior springs otherwise
known as the "Rotten Barrel" theory. This article shall explore police deviant behavior
from the perspective that it is the "Rotten Barrel " that leads to police deviant behavior.
Catherine Griffin
Jim Ruiz
Westfield State College
THE SOCIOPATHIC POLICE PERSONALITY:
IS IT A PRODUCT OF THE "ROTTEN APPLE"
OR THE "ROTTEN BARREL?"
Journal of Police and Criminal Psychology, Volume 14. Number 1
Two types of sociopaths have been identified, primary and secondary sociopaths.
Primary sociopaths are individuals who are thought to be predisposed to antisocial
behavior through their genotype. This means that they are born with a predisposition towards this behavior, Secondary sociopaths refer to those who become antisocial because of environmental factors (Mealey, 1995). External factors such as police
subcultural norms, peer influence, and economic factors may lead some officers to believe
that antisocial or deviant behavior is the most appropriate and most beneficial approach to their role as a police officer. The environment in which police officers work offers unlimited opportunities for corruption and deceit, and these environmental factors may lead to sociopathic behavior. With little or no supervision on the streets, each officer must
The term sociopath was introduced in 1930 to describe individuals who had a
"disposition to violate social norms of behavior" (Lykken, 1996, p. 29). In 1994 the
American Psychiatric Association provided a more detailed definition in their Diagnostic
and Statistical Manual: Mental Disorders (DSM-IV). The DSM-IV states that "there is a
pervasive pattern of disregard for and violation of the rights of others occurring since the
age 15 years" (Schneiderman, 1996, p_ 54) and can be identified through a combination of three or more of the following:
1) failure to conform to social norms with respect to lawful behaviors indicated by
repeatedly performing acts that arc grounds for arrest
- deceitfulness, as indicated by repeatedly lying, use of aliases, or conning others for personal profit or pleasure
- impulsivity or failure to plan ahead
4) irritability and aggressiveness, as indicated by physical fights or assaults
- reckless disregard for safety of self or others
- consistent irresponsibility, as indicated by repeated failure to sustain consistent work behavior or honor financial situations
- lack of remorse, as indicated by being indifferent to or rationalizing having hurt,
mistreated, or stolen from another (p. 54).
THE SOCIOPATHIC PERSONALITY
Unfortunately, police use of excessive force and involvement in other deviant behavior
is not just a contemporary problem, and it does not appear to have a simple solution. The
question here is the problem due to a few "rotten apples" in policing, or are these acts of
deviance a result of the "rotten barrel?" That is to say, is it that psychological testing is
incapable of weeding out unsuitable applicants as many have claimed (Neal, 1986; Shaw,
1986; Blum, 1964), or is it as others have claimed in that the working environment of
policing promotes this brand of deviance (Van Laere & Geerts) 1984~ Slovak, 1983;
Barker, 1978; Barker, 1976; Barker & Roebuck, 1973; Kuykendall, 1971). The focus of
this analysis will be on the sociopathic, or antisocial, personality manifest in many police
officers. Attention will be given to environmental stresses which increase the likelihood of
criminal behavior within police departments and the influence of the police subculture on
new recruits.
Journal of Police and Criminal Psychology, Volume 14, Number 1
Reming (1988) studied the personality characteristics of habitual criminals and
compared them to those of "supercops. It In this study, supercops were described as a
mE COP/CRIMINAL CONNECflON
Despite the existence of all of these tests for screening out unsuitable applicants for the
job of police officer, according to the "Rotten Apple» theory, unsuitable applicants still
slip through. This raises the question, "Is the apple rotten before it enters the barrel, or
does the barrel cause the apple to become rotten?"
Work Environment Preference Schedule
(Alpert, 1993; Baehr & Oppenheim, 1979~ Johnson, 1983; Murphy, 1972;
SpieJberger, et al., 1979; Wrobleski & Hess, 1993.)
Strong CampbeU Interest Inventory Szondi Test Thematic Apperception Test Thurston Temperament Schedule Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale Wide Range Achievement Test
House ..Tree-PersoD Test Kuder Preference Record - Personal Myers-Briggs Type Indicator Nelson-Denny Reading Test Police Aptitude Test Police Opinion Test Quick Test Role Preferences Sentence Completion Test SPY Scale
Forced Role Decisions Gordon Personal Profile
Cattell Intelligence Test Culture Fair Intelligence Test Drawings Personality Test Eysenck Personality Inventory Fear Index: Gross/Fine Motor Coord.
Bull Session Test
Adams- Tepley Personnel Audit
Allport-Vernon Scale of Values
Bender -Gestalt Test
Neiderhoffer Cynicism Scale
Otis Quick Scoring Mental Ability Tests
Police Information Questionnaire Test Psychiatric Interview Rokeacb Preference Record Rorschach Test Skills and Attributes Inventory State-Trait Anxiety Inventory Strong Vocational Interest Blank Taylor-Johnson Profile Analysis Thorndike Aptitude Test Watson-Glaser Critical Thinking Appraisal Wechsler-Bellvue Test
POLICE PSYCHOLOGICAL TESTING
The list of psychological tests used to test the suitability of applicants for the job of
police officer are legion. A list of 55 of the various psychological tests used in screening
police officers are as follows:
16 Personality Factors Test
Allport -Vernon-Lindzey Study of Values
Army General Classification Test
Beta Test
California Psychological Inventory Cornell Word Form - 2 Draw-a-Person Test Edwards Personal Preference Schedule
F Scale
Flanigan Aptitude Classification Test
Goals & Ambitions Survey Guilford-Zimmerman Interest Inventory Inwald Personality Inventory
MMPI
Journal of Police and Criminal Psychology, Volume 14. Number 1
Comparable to the sociopathic, antisocial personality is the authoritarian personality. This police personality has been characterized as "conservative, aggressive, cynical and
rigid" (Kappeler et aI., 1998, p. 93). Police officers have also been described as being
"submissive to superiors but are intolerant toward those who do not submit to their own
THE AUTHORITARIAN PERSONALfIY
This code of silence is also strengthened by the considerable emotions that come with police work. Police officers are trained to be suspicious of everything around them. An officer who is not suspicious may overlook a criminal act which may lead to injury or
death. With this suspicion comes cynicism, a deep-seated distrust of basic human
goodness (Balch, 1972). Balch also found that 73% of the police officers interviewed
thought that the public disliked the police, and that the media preferred to place them in an
unfavorable light as wen. It is these beliefs that police officers use to justify their behavior toward the public.
The level to which these activities occur is not. known fOT several reasons, the major
being "The Blue Curtain" (Goldstein, J 991). The loyalty officers feel toward each other
frequently hides and covers-up police corruption and criminal behavior. In many cases
when the public sees a police officer engaging in misconduct, they do not report it believing that those to whom they would make the report would be a part of the same police brotherhood. The public is aware of the police "The Blue Curtain" but are
unwilling to risk their own safety by trying to eradicate it.
FACTORING IN THE CODE OF SILENCE
These police officers were held in high esteem by their peers for their arrest statistics
and technica1 job performance. High arrest rates do not necessarily deter crime, leading
one to question the criteria used to evaluate police job performance. An example of this
type of officer was New York City Transit Police Officer Peter Marsala. Marsala was known as a hero and had been cited for bravery 12 times while he was on the job. During his career, he pulled nearly 20 people from between subway cars and saved 12 people from a burning building (Skolnick & Fyfe, 1993). He was a hero to all until he assaulted a passenger for violating the anti-smoking regulation of the subway. Marsala was sentenced
to 28 months in prison, because the man he attacked sustained permanent brain damage.
"subgroup of officers who distinguish themselves by their sustained high productivity as
measured by the number of self-initiated felony arrests" (p. 163). Reming found that these
police officers responded to stimuli in a manner similar to those of habitual criminals. Based on these results, the characteristics of "supercops" were similar and perhaps even
interchangeable with those of habitual criminals. Both groups were characterized as
having dispositions toward control, aggressiveness, vigilance, rebelliousness, high energy
level, frankness in expression, intense personal relationships, high self-esteem, feelings of
uniqueness, extroversion, sociability, jealousy, possessiveness of sexual partner, tendency not to change opinion easily, philandering and a tendency to avoid blame (p. 166).
Journal of Police and Criminal Psychology, Volume 14, Number 1
Early intervention is crucial for officers showing signs of stress, anxiety, depression or any other negative behavior. While there is no way of eliminating stress from the lives of police officers, steps can be taken to recognize and reduce stress. Before police applicants
are hired, they must pass physical, written and psychological tests. There appears to be
some agreement that pre-employment psychological testing has been shown to screen out some applicants for the policing occupation. Additional emphasis on the post-hire psychological testing may well serve to detect those officers who either failed to be screen out by pre-employment testing or those who have become psychologically impaired by the day-to-day stress that is so much a part of policing. Also, those who are hired should receive stress management training in addition to learning policing techniques. Previous
CONCLUSION
In order to deal with the people and situations with which they come in contact, police officers learn to suppress their emotions. In many cases, stress is known to lead to depression and suicide. In a 1950 study on occupational suicide, police were found to have the second highest rate of suicide (Territo & Vettee> 1981). Research has also shown that three-fourths of all heart attacks suffered by police officers are due to job-related stress (Territo & Vetter, ]981). Stress is also known to lead to alcoholism and broken
marriages, problems very often encountered in the privates lives of police officers. Police
officers suffering from alcoholism run into further complications. Some of these include:
higher than normal absentee rate prior to and immediately before the
officer's regular day off; complaints of insubordination by supervisors;
complaints by citizens of misconduct in the form of verbal and physical
abuse; intoxication during regular working hours; involvement in traffic accidents while under the influence of alcohol on and off duty; and reduced
overall performance (p. 198).
In addition to the code of silence, there are numerous other on-the-job pressures that affect a police officer. Their routine involves unusual working hours, scattered weekends, excessive overtime. court appearances, and the constant presence of a gun (Territo &
Vetter, 1981). It is only natural that police officers feel stress from dealing with
emotionally charged situations every day. The stress can become overwhelming.
BREAKING UNDER THE PRESSURE: STRESS AND ALCOHOLISM
Prior to this incident, Luckie had been involved in felony child abuse charges,
disorderly conduct, and complaints of sexual harassment by two other women. This case demonstrates not only the existing problem of police misconduct, but of administrative cover-ups previously mentioned. Indeed, the "The Blue Curtain" was maintained by every level of the police department including the chief of police himself
Bruce with implementing "a policy of avoiding, ignoring, and covering up complaints of physical and sexual abuse by Luckie and other officers" (p. 358).
Journal of Police and Criminal Psychology, Volume 14, Nwnber 1
Recognizing the signs of job stress, proper supervision, the breaking down of the blue wall of silence, educating officers and working closely with the public are positive steps. But beyond that, police officers must have a genuine desire to change, and seek the
Police departments should provide ongoing education for their officers with regard to social and moral problems as they impact policing. Police supervisors must be more alert to the warning signs and work closely with their subordinates in order that they might detect any behavioral changes Dr problems before they manifest themselves as deviant behavior. Lax supervision is one of the main problems concerning police criminal
behavior. Selection of qualified supervisors is essential if there is going to be a positive
change in policing. Many of the situations involving police misconduct could be avoided if preper supervision was implemented and practiced.
However, eliminating individuals with sociopathic tendencies, offering programs to reduce stress and encouraging alcoholic police officers to seek help is only the beginning.
The amount of police officers who are already sociopathic and participating in criminal
acts is undetermined. Yet, the longer these officers are allowed to continue their deviant
behavior, the mere legitimized it will become In their minds as well as in the minds of their
confederates. If n.o attempt is made to cause them to cease their deviant behavior, they
will assume that no one cares.
While all these suggestions are important, they will not be useful unless the officer
recognizes the need for help, and those around the officer are sympathetic to what s/he is
experiencing. With a reduction of job stress, Dr at least available resources to reduce job
stress, job performance will increase as well as the officer's well-being, and this has the potential to translate into mere positive police/citizen contact.
As previously mentioned, stress is one of the primary factDrs leading te marital issues,
depression, alcoholism and suicide in policing. Departments should also have in place
services to aid officers with alcohol dependence or psychological problems. Many police officers de net feel comfortable speaking of personal issues with strangers, but an in-house program would be effective providing the problem is discovered and addressed in a timely fashion.
Inorder to minimize alcohol abuse, administrators and supervisors need to be aware of
the warning signs of alcoholism and the effects alcohol has on an individual's personality. Some of the most prevalent warning signs of alcoholism, as described by the Psychological
Services Unit of the Dallas Police Department include: sudden changes in behavior,
increased sick time, erratic work habits, excessive worrying, fatigue and sexual
promiscuity (Territo & Vetter, 1981). Recognizing these symptoms can lead to early
intervention, thereby lessening the negative effect this officer will have on himself and the
community.
examples have shown that police abuse of authority, corruption, and brutality are not caused by lack of police training) but a lack of emotional well-being and stability.
Journal of Police and Criminal Psychology, Volume 14,Nwnber 1
Slovak, J. S. (1983). Violence in the City: Empirical Bases for a Collective Wo.rking Image. Journal ofCriminal Justice, J 1,301-315. Spielberger, C. D. Ward, 1. C. & Spaulding, H. c. (1979). A Model for the Selection of Law Enforcement Officers. In C. D. Spielberger (Ed), Police Selection and Evaluation: issues and Techniques (pp. 11- 29). Washington, DC: Hemisphere. Territo. L. & Vetter. H. (1981). Stress and Police Personnel. Journal o/Po/ice Science and Administration. 9. 195-207. Van Laere, E. &. Geerts, R. (1984). Law Enforcers or Law Evaders: Deviant Behavior in the Amsterdam Pohce. Police Studies, 7, 200·208. Wrobleski, H. M. & Hess. K. M. (1993). introduction to Low Enforcement and Criminal Justice. St. Paul, MN: West Publishing.
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