Organized Crime
Roles of an investigation
Scenario: As a police psychologist, you are part of an investigation into the homicide of a high profile community member, the mayor. The information you received from the department is that the victim was found with a single gunshot wound to the head. He was last seen with another notable figure at a nearby restaurant. You learn that before becoming the mayor, the deceased was the chief of your department and was very close to many administrators and officers.
Angel Johnson
Psychology for Law Enforcement
Unit 7 Project Assignment
02 October, 2012
As being a police psychologist, it does require a lot of patience and time. Time is the number one key to a successful situation. Police psychologists play many roles when it comes to policing and helping the department as a whole. Police psychologists have many roles that they have to play when dealing with hostage or barricade incidents, murders, and dealing with stress victims, such as police officers, hostages, the hostage-taker, and anyone else that is involved in the incident. They have to be there hands-on to help with the negotiator to help find out if a person is mentally ill or is just doing it for attention. It takes a lot of training, knowledge, and skills in order to perform actions that involve a police psychologist. Even psychological autopsy is the key to help assist the medical examiner in understanding the cause of death for insurance purposes and legal responsibility. They need to be aware of whether the person that is dead either committed suicide or mentally ill at the time of death. It could even be a cause of “suicide by cop”, but knowing how to go about each situation is the key to success. Having a police psychologist on hand is a very valuable tool to the police department and can be very useful when apprehending serial offenders. When dealing with a homicide like the one in the scenario, police psychologists need to evaluate officers prior to taking any
Scenario: As a police psychologist, you are part of an investigation into the homicide of a high profile community member, the mayor. The information you received from the department is that the victim was found with a single gunshot wound to the head. He was last seen with another notable figure at a nearby restaurant. You learn that before becoming the mayor, the deceased was the chief of your department and was very close to many administrators and officers.
Angel Johnson
Psychology for Law Enforcement
Unit 7 Project Assignment
02 October, 2012
As being a police psychologist, it does require a lot of patience and time. Time is the number one key to a successful situation. Police psychologists play many roles when it comes to policing and helping the department as a whole. Police psychologists have many roles that they have to play when dealing with hostage or barricade incidents, murders, and dealing with stress victims, such as police officers, hostages, the hostage-taker, and anyone else that is involved in the incident. They have to be there hands-on to help with the negotiator to help find out if a person is mentally ill or is just doing it for attention. It takes a lot of training, knowledge, and skills in order to perform actions that involve a police psychologist. Even psychological autopsy is the key to help assist the medical examiner in understanding the cause of death for insurance purposes and legal responsibility. They need to be aware of whether the person that is dead either committed suicide or mentally ill at the time of death. It could even be a cause of “suicide by cop”, but knowing how to go about each situation is the key to success. Having a police psychologist on hand is a very valuable tool to the police department and can be very useful when apprehending serial offenders. When dealing with a homicide like the one in the scenario, police psychologists need to evaluate officers prior to taking any
References: Behavioral Sciences & the Law (1998). The Role of the Psychologist in Crisis/Hostage Negotiations. Behavioral Sciences and the Law, 16, 455±472. Retrieved from http://web.ebscohost.com.lib.kaplan.edu/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=3&hid=25&sid=232a9a76-1f09-466e-b613-e1638f093264%40sessionmgr14. Ebert, B.W. (1987). Guide to conducting a psychological autopsy. Professional Psychology: Research and Practice, 18(1), 52-56. Retrieved from