Psychological Screening for Correction Officer Applicants: Trainee Candidates 2009

• NCJ Number: 233466
• Author(s): Leonard I. Morgenbesser, Ph.D.; Susan Gleeson
• Date Published: February 2010
• Length: 8 pages
• Corporate Author: State of New York Dept of Correctional Services
• Sale Source: State of New York Dept of Correctional Services
• Publication Format: Document
• Publication Type: Report (Annual/Periodic); Program/Project Description
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This 24th report on New York State's Psychological Screening Program for Correction Officer Trainee Candidates summarizes the program's activities for calendar year 2009.

Abstract

The objective of the Psychological Screening Program is to identify those correction officer trainee candidates who display psychotic disorders, serious character disorders, or other disorders that could hinder job performance. During June 1999, Law Enforcement Psychological Services, Inc. (LEPS) began to conduct the screenings, evaluate the candidates, and prepare the psychological reports for each candidate under a contract with the Department of Corrections. The initial contract expired in June 2009. After evaluating solicited proposals for a multi-year contact, the bid from LEPS was deemed to be the best proposal, and a new contract was signed for the period July 1, 2009, through June 30, 2014. This report indicates the aspects of candidate assessment performed by LEPS, including the 4 components of the psychological test/battery, 12 rating dimensions, and a 6-point rating scale. Since June 1999, the candidate assessment has consisted of a 2-day procedure. Procedures conducted each day are described in detail. This is followed by the presentation of applicant processing data for 2000-2009. Information addresses the number of correction officer trainee candidates psychologically tested annually, the number judged to be psychologically unsuitable, the number who appealed their psychological-unsuitability finding, and the number of these appeals that resulted in the psychological-unsuitability finding being overturned. A study of probationary terminations among the 559 correction officer trainee appointments during 2008 found that 19 terminations (3.3 percent) occurred. Reasons for the terminations are reported. Based on the year's very low rate of probationary terminations, the Department of Corrections Bureau of Personnel continues to believe that the Psychological Screening Program is an effective means of identifying suitable correction officer candidates.