Police

Police Officers

The police play a central societal role, which makes the selection of suitable candidates particularly important. Incorrect decisions in the selection process are associated with high individual, organizational, and societal costs. Accordingly, the assessment of physical and psychological aptitude is common internationally and legally required in many countries. In particular, the use of psychometric testing procedures in addition to interviews has a long tradition, especially in the USA.

As early as 2004, an influential US meta-analysis was published that examined the extent to which cognitive abilities and personality traits predict training performance, job performance, and duty-related problems in the police context (Aamodt, 2004). This meta-analysis was updated several times in subsequent years and is now part of the standard reference work Police Psychology (Aamodt & Brewster, 2022). The authors summarize the findings by stating that police officers with higher cognitive ability show better performance in training (r = ,34), receive higher supervisor performance ratings on duty (r = ,15), show higher activity levels, for example measured by arrests or reports (r = ,19), and are less likely to leave service (r = −,09). Formal education level also predicts job performance, but is generally not considered in police assessment for legal and ethical reasons. In contrast, interviews show comparatively low validity and only weak relationships with both training performance and duty-related performance ratings (Aamodt & Brewster, 2022).

Which specific intelligence dimensions are particularly relevant in the police context has not yet been investigated by meta-analyses or individual studies with sufficiently large samples. In line with the broad requirements profile of police work, the test batteries used by police organizations in the DACH region (Austria, Germany, Switzerland) and internationally include a wide spectrum of cognitive ability areas. In addition to general cognitive ability, logical reasoning, memory performance, verbal and numerical abilities, spatial visualization ability, as well as reading and spelling skills are typically assessed.

With regard to personality traits, overall small but consistent relationships with police performance are found. The uncorrected correlations between the Big Five dimensions and police performance reported in the standard reference work Police Psychology showed that openness is mainly relevant for training success, and agreeableness has small effects on job performance after training, while conscientiousness and emotional stability are consistently associated with success criteria in police work (Aamodt & Brewster, 2022); this is also confirmed in a further meta-analysis by Wilmot and Ones (2021).

*Note: p < ,05

In addition to these classic cognitive and personality-related requirements, the safe handling of complex dynamic situations is of particular importance in police work. A study on (simulated) emergency driving showed that the ability to direct attention to currently relevant aspects of a situation and to ignore irrelevant aspects is crucial for lane keeping and accident prevention during emergency driving (Zahabi et al., 2021). This ability corresponds to attentional control within the CHC model (Schneider & McGrew, 2018), which is considered a central predictor of driving safety within the framework of working memory (cf. Zhang et al., 2023). Obtaining an overview - traffic is a special case of this attentional control and describes the ability to quickly identify relevant stimuli in a situation. Obtaining an overview - traffic predicted performance in a hazard course in a group of N = 161 professional drivers (r = ,25; Vetter et al., 2018).

In summary, cognitive ability, selected personality traits, and obtaining an overview - traffic represent central abilities for police training and occupational success.

The Test Solution “Police Officers” therefore includes the following dimensions:

• Logical reasoning (INT)

• Long-term memory (INT)

• Spatial visualization ability (INT)

• Verbal ability (INT)

• Numerical ability (INT)

• Obtaining an overview - traffic (ATAVT-2)

• Personality: Emotional stability, Conscientiousness, Openness, Agreeableness, Extraversion (FCB5)

The table below provides a complete overview of the specific weightings of the individual tests used to calculate the overall score for the Test Solution “Police Officers”. The relative weighting of specific cognitive abilities in this Test Solution was determined on the basis of their respective loading on g (SCHUHFRIED, 2025b). Further information on the calculation and interpretation of the result of a testing can be found on the page: Notes on evaluation and interpretation.

If additional country-specific requirements for reading or spelling skills exist, tests such as the ELST (English Language Skills Test) or the WRST (Vienna Spelling Test) can additionally be used. Finally, it should be noted that the Test Solution “Police Officers” is available for both right-hand and left-hand traffic. The total duration of the Test Solution “Police Officers” is 84 minutes.

Police Special Forces

Beyond regular police service, special forces exist in many countries, such as SWAT (USA), SEK (Germany), EKO Cobra (Austria), or cantonal special forces in Switzerland. These are generally recruited from existing police personnel, although the requirements of their activities go beyond normal police work. However, a requirements analysis of different police occupational roles, including patrol police and special forces (SWAT), showed that the cognitive basic requirements in Swedish and US patrol and special police units are assessed as largely similar by a representative sample of active police officers (Tedeholm & Bäckström, 2025). In the personality domain, emotional stability in particular gains importance in special operations compared to regular police service (Garbarino et al., 2012).

Due to the deployment of special forces in highly demanding scenarios such as anti-terror operations or hostage situations, the ability to react quickly and correctly under stress appears to be particularly important (Dominski et al., 2018). This is also reflected in a requirements analysis of Swiss police special forces, which identified decision-making competence under time pressure and stress tolerance as central competencies (Muhly & Dössegger, 2025). The literature describes close relationships between shoot/don’t-shoot paradigms and executive control processes, especially inhibitory control. A systematic review showed that executive function training programs, for example for controlling gaze behavior, attention, and decision-making under time and stress pressure, can be transferred to police-relevant action situations (cf. Spiegel & Sutter, 2025).

The Test Solution “Police Special Forces” therefore additionally assesses the following dimensions:

• Reactive stress tolerance, incorrect reactions (DT)

• Reaction speed, motor speed (RT)

The table below provides a complete overview of the specific weightings of the individual tests used to calculate the overall score for the Test Solution “Police Special Forces”. The additional tests in the Test Solution “Police Special Forces” were aligned as far as possible with the cited literature findings and otherwise weighted equally due to the lack of solid empirical evidence. Further information on the calculation and interpretation of the result of a testing can be found on the page: Notes on evaluation and interpretation.

In addition, it should be considered that obtaining an overview in the context of special forces is assessed not as traffic-specific but as general / abstract (test form S3), in order to reflect the diverse activity field. The total duration of the Test Solution “Police Special Forces” is 96 minutes.

References can be found here: Literature