Character Traits in Law, Public Safety, Corrections, and Security Lesson

When you think of people working in the Law, Public Safety, Corrections and Security (LPSCS) fields you would hope to find people of high moral character. These are our everyday heroes that protect our communities. We are going to explore these traits as a starting point for our career investigations.

Many law enforcement agencies require personality assessments as part of their hiring process.

The purpose of the psychological assessment is to evaluate whether applicants have the necessary emotional, behavioral and interpersonal capabilities, alongside job-relevant personality attributes, to perform the inherent occupational requirements of a General Duties police officer. Based on a national job analysis conducted by the Australian Centre for Policing Research, a wide range of psychological characteristics that are desirable for policing have been identified. These include:

People in law enforcement have to deal with angry mobs, counter-insurgency operations, traffic control, VIP security, political rallies, religious festival crowd control, and various other law and order duties without losing their composure and sensitivity. They have to face potentially hazardous situations that can result in physical or mental trauma or even death in the line of duty. Their work stress can be further aggravated because of their personality traits or wrong coping methods. Therefore, apart from physical fitness, they have to be mentally fit to do full justice to their duties.

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