Are there any studies on why people become police officers (in the US)

They are pious, egotistical, control freaks.
Why, yes, I know some.

I don’t know about studies, but I once heard an interview where a cop said something like “It’s not complicated. You’re 23 years old. You get a gun and a fast car and they tell you to go look for trouble.”

@LauratheRockStar Well not sure about the studies but you could have a little interview with john65pennington….

Before one can be a police officer there are a battery of tests they have to take, even map reading abilities. One of those is a psychological profile. Believe it or not, a candidate cannot be an out-of-the-box thinker, or even an independent thinker. THey MUST be moldable (pardon the generalized term). For instance, one of the multiple choice test questions asks something along the lines of: If a fellow officer did something illegal what would be the best course of action?

Two thoughts on that question. First of all, they didn’t say WHAT it was the officer in this scenario did. DId he/she run a stop sign? Or did they attend a hot tub party with hookers and lines of coke? There are varying degrees of “illegal”. If it was the former, then naturally, you’d think that this could be handled without having the officer written up or involving IA. What kind of schmuck would turn in a fellow officer for such a minor infraction?

But it is a fact that the test has multiple choice because it is a filtering device. They aren’t looking for a person who thinks confronting the officer yourself is a valid choice (no matter how small the infraction). What they want is a person who will immediately report the offense to a superior the very first chance they get, even if it means calling a superior on different shift than the one you work, if you were off duty at the time you discovered the indescretion.

I know this didn’t answer your question head on, but it DOES give an insight that cannot easily be found online. You won’t find online the specifics you’re looking for, for good reason. It would defeat the purpose of the psych tests.

Here ia a brilliant example that rocked our community about 10 years ago:

There was a police officer here who was absolutely, 100%, completely COP. No matter where he was or what he was doing, he was, first and foremost, a cop.

He was asked by a fellow officer for help moving into a new home. At some point during the move, Mr. Cop noticed a tiny baggie of what appeared to be cocaine sitting on the dresser in his friend’s/fellow officer’s bedroom. Mr. Cop was totally shocked! He questioned his friend/fellow officer, and indeed, cocaine was the substance in the tiny baggy.

Mr. Cop finished helping with the moving, and wrestled all night long that night with how to handle it, KNOWING what had to be done. He was not looking forward to it. THe next morning, he requested an audience with his captain and told what happened, which was the right thing to do, right?

WRONG. He was fired the next day because he didn’t report it IMMEDIATELY, even though he was off duty when it happened. He chose to sleep on it (so to speak. He didn’t actually get any sleep at all). This is an example of that test and a true life example to go along with it, of the types of thinking that those psych tests are designed to weed out. I hope this helps you in some way.

I don’t know of a study of personalities that choose that particular profession, but know of some about how people in power (such as a prison guard) will behave a certain way after giving a lot of power over others.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanford_prison_experiment

is just one….

Why does anybody become anything? Some decide to become police officers because they genuinely want to help the community. Others do it for the ego trip, and because they like the idea of intimidating or bullying others.

Police officers are a select group of individuals. not everyone is qualified physically or mentally to be a police officer. i worked as a background investigator, investigating new police applicants for my department, for three years. you would be surprised at the number of people that actually believe they can be a police officer overnight. out of 80 police applicants, only 10 will actually make it to start training at our police academy. most fail because of a faulty background. my department is very strict in all aspects of police applicants. no criminal record. some minor traffic offenses are acceptable. reckless driving is not acceptable. imagine how they would drive a police car. must pass a rigid physical and psychological evaluation and a polygraph examination. if a new applicant has made it this far, then its the tough physical training and classes at the police academy. there is no room for individual bad attitudes in our academy. after graduating the academy, a rookie officer then spends the next 6 months with a seasoned officer and some rookies do not make it during this training period.

Our department use to require an applicant to have an Associate Degree, in order to even qualify to fill out an application. i convinced our Police Chief that being a police officer requires common sense and not degrees. that many good applicants were being denied consideration, simply because they did not possess a degree. after much conversation, our Chief agreed and dissolved this requirement. we now have police applicants from all across America, wanting to be police officers in my city.

We have not had a case of police brutality in my police department in many, many years. this is because of a successful investigation of police applicants, before they are sworn in as officers.

My police department is accredited. not many police departments can meet these stiff requirements. this is another reason my department is virtually without a police brutality case.

How this helps. john

Typo. Hope this helps. john

They must be pre-disposed to violence and willing to shoot to kill under the right situations (of course, as with the LAPD Rampart division cops in the 80s, they were willing to shoot to kill for money).
Many were beaten and abused as children and become badge heavy gun toting thugs.

Some of course are Okay humans.

Read the Rodney King case regarding police brutality and getting off scot-free.

Overall, police brutality cases are not that common, if you go back and check the history of most police departments. sometimes, a person(s) slips through the cracks, during the application process and brutality and other cases are the result. this is not the norm for all departments.

Overall, police brutality cases are hushed up and never become official reports.

Arrested development?

Overall, police brutality cases are hushed up and never become official reports.

That’s a sweeping statement not backed up with facts. Not credible.

I think that the police force does attract certain character types. I personally know of a very bad bullying sort of man who is a Sheriff, but I also know some really great, helpful guys who really do care about protecting people. I don’t know if there are any stats available.

I grew up in a small town and 3 of my high-school… co-students… I can’t call them all friends… have wound up on the city police force. One was a gregarious guy whom I liked. He was called down by his partner once when he waved out the window and yelled ‘Hey Freako!’ which is what he called me in high-school. Of course I thought it was funnyl.

The second one wound up being the chief of police. He definitely was a friend, and has a good head on his shoulders.

The third one was a bully and wild child in grade school, Jr. High and High School. I didn’t trust him then, and I don’t trust him now. I once ran into him doing at a grocery store and he acted really odd. I think he thought I was a druggie in high-school (I was not, even though by the proportional hair-length theorem, I should have been). So maybe that was it. Or maybe he could just sense my opinion of him.

Anyway, some good folks become cops… some questionable folks become cops.

And it’s also true, based on history of our police department, that some really bad folks become cops.

I guess it’s just like any other career.

This article cited four main reasons for becoming a police officer: family tradition, personal justice, adrenaline rush and money.

In China, FWIW, parental pressure is a big motivator.

A study comparing male and female motivations for entering law enforcement found that the Opportunity to help people in the community was the motivation cited most often. For many, it was also a “lifelong dream or aspiration.” Being influenced by a family member or friends to do so and job-related features were cited as playing a fairly important role.

So, yes, there are studies, although they are somewhat difficult to find.

You might this study interesting: Lester, D. (1983). Why do people become police officers: A study of reasons and their predictions of success. Journal of Police Science and Administration, 11, 170–174. I didn’t look at it, but it seems on topic.

Here’s another one about reasons in Korea: Moon, B., & Hwang, E. G. (2004). The reasons for choosing a career in policing among South Korean police cadets. Journal of Criminal Justice, 32, 223–229.

Another one:
Raganella, A. J., & White, M. D. (2004). Race, gender, and motivation for becoming a police officer: Implications for building a representative police department. Journal of Criminal Justice, 32, 501–513.

That ought to get you started. Let me know what you find out.

JAYTKAY, thanks for that comment and i agree.