Defunding the Police | What is the Personality Profile of Police? 

I diagnose Dr Grande with 'Sensible Personality Order'.

psychological background checks for police officers

Your calm, levelheadedness is refreshing

💯As a citizen that doesn't break the law, I still have had a few run-ins with cops that were unsettling and I attribute it across the board to their sense of superiority over the people they serve.

My husband has severe mental illness. He he's been brutalized by police officers. He's been pistol whipped, stripped naked and thrown into a filthy cell for 28 days of complete isolation. When confused he asked a police officer for help but was forced into a bus to a city 45 minutes away instead of helping him get home. I had been searching for him.They have teased and laughed at him. At a park he said hello to a police officer and the officer stopped him and demanded his ID. I know to never call police for help when he's in crisis because they escalate the situation. I'm afraid they might shoot him. He's been beaten many times by them. He's a good man who takes his meds and doesn't drink or do drugs but sometimes the meds stop working. He says if he had been born black they would have already killed him.

I really appreciated hearing that the personality profile necessary to be an effective police officer is basically unattainable. Thanks for breaking this all down, and for presenting possible solutions to the problem!

...I love listening to Dr. Grande....like, we need to learn these things, he is so easy to listen to.

It is amazing to me how you can calmly analyze and dissect a topic that would have me ranting and raging maniacally. Well done!

Yeah, “Las Vegas - now with more serial killers” doesn’t quite have the charm of “What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas”

I support all your recommendations.👍

I was a little nervous when I saw this title, but as usual Dr. Grande has the reasonable opinion.

Dear Dr. Grande, what are your thoughts on the "militarization" of many of our police depts, having military grade weapons? Also, many police hires come from ex military situations, some having seen active combat. What might the impact of these issues be upon their duty to "serve" the public? As always, thank you for your videos, I feel that you do humanity a great good. Peace be upon you and your loved ones.

Pre/employment psychological testing especially to weed out sadistic tendencies should be a priority. I believe this job attracts people who love to dominate and inflict pain. Rather than emphasize de escalation training the emphasis should be on screening out abusive personality traits BEFORE hiring.

Excellent topic Watching now But the topic itself especially addressed by you is very necessary

I have done A LOT of research on this “defund the police” idea and have never seen that it means to get rid of the police altogether. I support the idea of more social and mental health workers and less militarization of the police. Your five points are excellent. Thank you for ALL of your videos. They make my day!

I thought this was a really clear analysis and your ideas were smart too!

Dr. Grande I love your videos! I have viewed many of them. As a retired Sergeant at the Detroit Jail and Airport and being born and raised as a Black American, I have felt the stings of institutional racism (i.e. denied housing, jobs promotions, bank loans , etc.) and have seen it with my own eyes. African Americans have been criminalized from slavery just trying to unionized and ask for fair wages. When my race migrated to the North from the South many of the Blacks that were given criminal records for standing up for their rights to fair wages, fair jobs and equality. Today, look at the television, Worldwide, Brazil, London, Asian, Africa and other countries are standing for Blacks to be treated fairly and not to be murdered in the streets in cold blood for a traffic stop, walking down the street, and for basically living Black in America. The murdering of Police is a true reality and it is done by both Black and White Officers. As a officer and Sergeant, I was tested many times to the "Brown Code" to protect my officers even though they would assault, and deny inmates of their Constitutional Rights. However, many times as a Black Woman who loves America, I know that Blacks are Criminalized by a Justice system that is unfair and unjust when it comes to arresting, detaining, incarcerating, and murdering our Black men. I do agree that Mental Health workers must work with Police Officers and that we need the Police. I supervised the mental health floors within the jail system. I also escorted mental health inmates to the hospitals, etc. I like your solutions and would suggest like the L.E.I.N . that reports criminal records nationwide, I suggest a L.E.O.N. L.E.O.N. means Law Enforcement Officer Network and would provide all Police and Law Enforcement Agencies (i.e. FBI, ATF, CIA,Homeland Security) to be a nationwide database to report officers with high citations, shootings, and other violations. The idea that Police are above the law is based in a Criminal Justice System that views Blacks as Criminals and less than human. In addition, I saw a lot of ego, and the abuse and misuse of police brutality and racism within my years at the jails and airport and I continue to see it with the recent murders of George Floyd and Rayshard Brooks.

I have worked closely with certain police in a civilian role. I think the job is more complex than can be addressed in a fifteen minute video. For example investigators do different jobs than enforcers. Unfortunately police can get cynical through working with law breakers for a long time. Some come to believe that everyone they encounter is a potential law breaker and a hazard. There needs to be more innocent interaction between citizens and police to overcome this.

7:02 "...across three of the five personality traits." I can hear the OCEAN in the distance.

"Doctor, you got 26K more subs in just 11 days". I'm sure a few years ago, you would have said to me; "Are you kidding me"? Thanks for all the hard work you're doing for us, Dr. Grande 😃🇳🇱

From a former law enforcement officer: I loved the video and your analysis. I come from a law enforcement (father) and mental health (mother) background, which I believe helped me with all aspects of the law enforcement profession. You train to always be on guard and leary of individuals because you never know who might want to harm you. Unfortunately, you encounter a high volume of negative interactions in the community and experience horrific situations that can make you have a completely different view on life. I think it would be a wonderful idea to have mental health professionals partner up with law enforcement officers to provide that service to the community but also to provide it to the LEO as well.

Thank you for covering this topic. I think the mental health of police is extremely important considering the amount of power they have over citizens. All of the police brutality I've seen these past few weeks has shaken me to my core. Enough is enough already.

I think one problem with the Law-less argument is the police isn't the embodiment of the law themselves. You don't need a law degree to become a police. How does one enforce the law if they don't understand or don't know the law themselves? A 4 -5 months of training doesn't cut it.

This is fantastic. I've never had enough knowledge to form an opinion on this topic and you really did some amazing explaining here. Great ideas that make a lot of sense to implement

This was the most intelligent discussion of this topic that I’ve ever heard. Thank you.

Everyone would benefit if police officers learned about psychology. Love your content Dr. Grande, your input on these various topics are always thought-provoking and informative! edit: Thanks for the replies guys! Had fun reading them. Some interesting perspectives. Just in case a police officer is reading this: Remember, you can't hate someone if you understand them. Other than that, calm your trigger finger.

I wish you included the history of policing in your analysis because it has an impact on police culture.

when it comes to dealing with police, i’d recommend reading angela davis and her theories on the matter. also, there’s so much irony in the fact nypd went on strike out of spite, and crime rates went down!

Great suggestions! But....yes there is a but. But what would happen to prisons, particularly private prisons, if police were focused on good policing instead of statistics? Did you know that there is a prison lobby that constantly pushes to make almost everything a crime? Got to fill those beds. Money, money, money!

A few years ago I got to know several police officers personally and we occasionally socialized. I was startled by how widespread heavy drinking, very high-stakes gambling and spousal intimidation was among these men. The term “mean drunk” was brought vividly to life. The way some of the police wives held their breath and tiptoed around their husbands taught me more about the abusive relationship than patient interviews ever have. Behaviors this pathological don’t pop up the day after a cadet graduates and becomes a police officer. They’re deeply rooted. What exactly are the psychiatric screening criteria for police cadets?-although I’m afraid I already know the answer.

Thank you for continuing to take a scientifically, research based video on this topic. My husband has worked in LEO for 15 years and it’s a tough job. The amount of death threats they and their families get on a regular basis is awful.

Theyre at hugh risk of vicarious trauma. And compassion fatigue. This video is worth a few listens.

As with everything, education is key. We all have a lot to learn as humans, how to coexist, how to get over the past. BLM doesn't want the police to not exist, just have different first responders for different types of events. Crisis council, domestic council, mental health council. No cops showing up on edge, cops are for criminals and crimes

I would add creating a transition time between serving in the military in combat and joining the police. This is probably the contributing factor behind the man shot dead in Seattle a few years ago. The policeman had just returned from a tour of duty abroad, and misinterpreted a deaf wood carver holding a knife as an enemy combatant.

We went from Andy Griffith in Mayberry who kept one bullet (in his pocket) and was the kindest most helpful gentleman you ever meet to an officer covered in military SWAT gear who screams orders/demands and if you don't comply instantly you will die (especially if you're brown). It only took 60 yrs to devolve and become scary. Thank you for your kind, explanatory words! Cheers Doc!

I like that Dr. Grande explains these topics very coherently and logically, another great video!

👏👏👏great take Dr. Grande. My friend's son has a mental illness and sometimes she has to call 911. Usually thr police arrives before the paramedics. My friend always tells the operator, I don't need the police my son is agressive, but he is not violent. Anyways the police gets there. They have been very good in problem resolution. some of them have experience with mental illneses. There had been many cases involving policing and mental health. Thank you.

More stringent criteria during recruitment, classes in how to act human and three counts of overzealous behaviour and you're out. Regular drug tests too.

Dr. Grande: Your intelligence, integrity, morals, ethics and humor are greatly appreciated. Thank you

Re personality profile, EXCELLENT choice of topic. I LOVE me some Dr. Grande.

Great video, thank you. One point with which I do not completely agree, however. At the beginning you were pretty careful to differentiate defunding from a concept closer to abolishing, but your later comments seemed to group them together again. If excessive funds of police departments for weaponry, toys (story out now about a $368k swat vehicle Halifax was about to buy, plenty of this is US too) extra time for thinks like marijuana and drug enforcement etc are cut and redirected to more appropriate staff or community groups, it arguably frees up remaining police time and funds for more serious crimes- serial killers, etc. I do think we should legalise/decriminalise and regulate all drugs (this seems to have been successful in Portugal), and establishment a system where drug related questions are dealt with as a medical issue. So for the question of defunding the police, I will have to disagree thay it would result in lawlessness. It seems that it would weed out waste of time and money and re-focus police on serious crimes and perhaps even smaller crimes which have a wider impact on others or the environment.

I've had a very interesting life. Over the last 7 years I have sued both a Local Authority CPS department and The Metropolitan Police (London, UK). Due to the consequences of Narcissist engaging them as agents. He told tall tales, and they believed him. It became a nasty spat when I kicked back and went public. I became harassed by the local police that worked with the CPS. So personally I believe it would be a very good thing to assess the police for psychopathic traits. During the time this was happening, I had one cop pull up at the lights whilst I was waiting for a bus, and laugh in my face. They seemed to enjoy bullying me, it was a fun game of "kick the hippy". I won my case against the Local Authority, the police wrote and offered a settlement last week for a laughable sum and without disclosure of the documents they have hidden from me for the past 9 years. I have yet to see a warrant for what went on and I suspect I won't, because it was done illegally. Far too much power in too few hands.

You are so intelligent and non biased Dr. Grande. Your expertise could really help make these changes 💗

Excellent, balanced analysis of this difficult topic. It's wonderful to have a voice of reason in these troubling times.

Looking at the comments first then listening to your video, it’s amazing how different people seem to have heard completely different things from your video. I think you are right about the problems of the police culture, becoming the “them verses us” mentality. Being a nurse working for years in emergency psychiatry I would deal with the police daily. I found them incredibly patient and kind with seriously mentally ill persons. I also found them often rather gullible with persons who were sociopaths doing mayhem, but were not psychotic. It may be because the police assigned to bring EDP’s (emotionally disturbed persons) to psych EDs are generally rookies. I have to say I really enjoyed the interactions I had with these officers in general. I think one answer is to require police to have more education in mental health issues, communication skills, and have all interactions filmed with body cameras to increase transparency. Regular debriefings and analysis of the how officers handled these interactions from people not hostile to authority would need to happen. Mental health workers cannot be substituted for the police, crime does exist, has to be dealt with. Sociopathic criminals already are using public opinion to their advantage to avoid being arrested, when this happens public opinion will swing the other way.

Fifteen minutes isn't enough time to discuss this topic.

It’s amazing hearing the thoughts and opinions of someone who focuses on logic. I’ve never thought it was that amazing a feat to focus on logic but the more I’ve lived, the more scarce I’ve found people pursuing truth or questioning their own cognitive bias. Typically people find this questioning shows a lack of confidence, but it is a necessary process to get anywhere near the truth. Thank you for pursuing logic, all of your viewers benefit from it.

What an interesting and poignant review! I served as a military police officer and experienced civilian and federal law enforcement police street duty. I am female and everything you said about the police profile is 100% correct. I left the profession due to the growing and out of control corruption. The pressure to be corrupt is immense!! I live in Collier County Fl (Naples) the sheriff's department here is beyond corrupt. It is so sad to see. Civilian oversight is needed, especially on Police Professional Responsibility Boards. Thank you for such a fair and unbiased look at both questions.

Did the switch to para military uniforms in some places change their demeaner? Always wondered... I am for having police.

I wish a social worker was required to be acquainted with every police officer , not only to help diffuse, but bc social workers are notoriously better at recording and writing down situations from an objective position, unlike police.

I have dated a state trooper for 18 years (he is retired) and also worked for him in his investigation business as an investigator and a legal nurse consultant. It has been quite an adventure, and he is quite a person and a bit of a legend in our state and local police departments statewide. I introduced him to the DSM. He loved it. He asked me once if I thought he was in it. I told him we all are. He said, “Well what am I?” I told him I think he is a “well-socialized antisocial personality”. He loved it! He is a staunch defender of women and children, and has worked tirelessly in his day tracking down perpetrators and murderers and getting them off the street. Your video summation is excellent. Thank you for this upfront analysis. 👍🏻

I need dr Grande to run for public office or become a high level advisor. He has so mucj critical skill thinking its truly awesome. I become he could bring alot of different personalities and backgrounds together.

Extremists decide who the enemy is and if you chose that profession, regardless of your motive, personal experiences or record, you are now a target. I’ve seen people worship or vilify entire groups my whole adult life - police, bankers, teachers, doctors, mental health workers, etc. Some folks don’t have the ability to understand nuance, this is why we need more creators like Dr. Grande to explain the underlying “what could be going on in a case like this” in videos.

Could you please do a video on Prince Andrew and his interview regarding Jeffrey Epstein?

Thank you, Dr. Grande. A subject that doesn't affect me; I just hope for the best for all. Stay well. We need your take on these important subjects.

Thank you for addressing such a difficult topic. Problem solving with regards to complex topics like this one is effortful and tiring. There are many issues to balance. I appreciate the effort you make for these videos.

I'd like to hear an analysis of the Daniel Holtzclaw case from Dr. Grande please.

Dr. Grande, can you do a short video on ocean? What is the definition of each characteristic and how do you score them?

Dr. G hits it out of the park with his thorough and thoughtful analysis, per usual!

Thanks Todd, I've been subscribed for many months now and am thoroughly appreciating all the sincere effort you apply to your research and presentation. You're my go to guy... seriously, you bring me comfort and understanding with the world and human interaction.

I guess I am very curious about where you are coming up with the definitions for "defunding" the police?

Dr. Grande you seem to be describing the extreme version of “Defund the Police”. Less extreme this proposes that some funding moves to desperately needed social services. Move funding to arrest a drug addict to funding a rehab center. Defund the Police in its reasonable form wants to move many burdens off police officers. This also does not mean completely removing the Police either.

Dr. Todd i’m very happy that your channel is growing. I wish you continued success.

More people should be watching this particular video. The analysis of the required mental faculties required to be in law enforcement is like taking the red pill, without having to call yourself "woke" or some other buzz word. I'm proud to be on your team Dr. Grande.

On the point you made about police liking the adrenaline high etc. I was in hospital a couple of years ago speaking to a young nurse and I asked her if she liked her job. I was so shocked when she said “Not really as it’s quite boring unless we get a shooting or something like that” 🤭😥😣

The idea here is you demand a major change then negotiate down instead of asking for incremental change and ending up with nothing.

Thank you for demystifying this topic for me. I had a simplistic understanding on a lot of the points you made, and your clear and concise method of speech has helped me to better understand the concepts.

Thank you, I have felt alone in thinking many of these same things. I can't help but be on everybody's side in a conflict but this issue is so polarizing. Your clearheadedness and empathy are a breath of fresh air.

As always, Dr. Grande, I much appreciate your piercing analysis of this complex issue.

I’m not a words smith like you Dr. G but I’ll say this. The recent events with George Floyd was a horrible act of racism and hate and that’s gotta stop in this country. BOTTOMLINE. Cause I feel like 95% of the population regardless of color gets along just fine. It’s that 5% that is creating the racial tension in this country. I really wish everybody would just treat each other with respect and be courteous and nice to each other. In terms of the Police I feel the same way. It’s that 5-10% that make them look bad. At our University we have a team of constables and Guards that are 95% comprised of former and retired State and County Police of all different backgrounds. I agree with you we need to get them help when they have mental health issues. I don’t think a lot of people consider when being pulled over for example, what the officer could be going through in there life that day. They could be under stress, depressed, feeling pressure from the boss, going thru a divorce have a sick child, we don’t know. So when the person being pulled over gives them an attitude or is rude the officer has a higher chance of “Bad Decision Making” or “Making a huge error in judgement. BOTTOM LINE: Things need to change and we all should be communicating and working out our differences. Everybody needs to have empathy and be compassionate - and it needs to start RIGHT NOW. Or things are going to get UGLY and FAST!!! If we don’t band together and work this out all of the progress we’ve made over the last 50 years will be a waste and that’s a real shame. Great Video as always!!!

Outstanding episode! As an Australian looking in... you verbalized a lot of the points I had been thinking. Especially about the "brotherhood" mentality & accountability. Hope it can start to change. Thanks for all of your hard work.

Your commentary is so spot on , and so extensive and so well spoken. 👌

I would love you to do a breakdown of the personality type of the rioters and looters. What leads them to destroy and disrupt instead of other means that would actually work for their cause and not so blatantly against it.

I worked for a psych facility for mostly homeless individuals. We had a crisis team that the police would call and we would pick up the person, either from the police or the ER, and then bring them to our facility, triage the person and find housing and provide a psych appointment, if needed. I believe this helped tremendously to reduce bad outcomes with the police. The training needed to be a psych RN or social worker is immense. Police...almost no training. Police are NOT equipped to deal with the majority of calls they get. Almost nobody wants to get rid of ALL police. It's about taking the money used for military gear used to torment peaceful protesters and hire more people that are trained in social services and community services. There are other ways to handle homelessness and drug abuse outside of arresting and criminalizing it. I am a family of nurses, but I also have family in law enforcement. The police are above the law, literally. Look up qualified immunity if you don't believe it. The system was built on racism. There is no way of fixing it. Good cops that turn in bad cops are threatened, fired, and destroyed. There's no way to fix that. There are other ways to provide public safety that do not include harassing homeless people, civil forfeiture, and seven-figure settlements for murdering unarmed people. This country is so resistant to change it is literally killing us. Also, I believe we need a system similar to jury duty so no one person is reviewing use of force incidents repeatedly. That way, it helps to avoid people being too afraid to hold cops accountable.

Hey Dr. Grande, Sorry this is off-topic, I was unable to find your email address unless it was in relation to your courses at the University… Anyways I was wondering if you did any research on identical twins and mental health?

Thank you, Dr. Grande. I’m also a psychologist, and I just subscribed to your channel. I very much enjoy your analytical and common sense perspective.

This all starts and ends with politics. Why not defund the politicians instead?

I think I’ve been watching too much Dr. Grande because I dreamt about him last night! Awesome commentary on the police and mental health etc. it’s definitely a shame that the bad apples are ruining the reputations of those upstanding police officers. It really is a tricky situation. We must be careful to not start to be prejudiced against any group of people whether it’s because they’re wearing a uniform or because of the colour of their skin.

Dr. Grande, Please familiarize yourself with Camden, NJ police force. They changed the entire direction of their police department. Instead of training them for combat and dominance over the populace, they are taught community policing. Their crime rate went down by almost half when they changed the police force from a hammer into an adhesive that holds the community together.

I think you make an excellent point about prioritizing mental health in the justice system, when dealing with the public and with officers of the law. Our current system is severely underprepared to handle the intricacies and idiosyncrasies of this topic. Also, "Vegas, now with more serial killers!" made me laugh, I immediate thought: "what happens in Vegas (literally) stays in Vegas". Great job, as always!

I was with a man before and after he was a cop...the personality change was like night and day. He turned into a completely different person.

I think you should read an article called “confessions from a former bastard cop” the writer explains that nearly all cops break the law and states if we focused on why people commit crimes we could prevent them before police needed to get involved.

I always appreciate your take on things. Just a nice, sound, trustworthy source. Thank you very much.

The implementation of body cam has been a godsend in assisting in transparency in the circumstances of interactions between officers and the public.

This was more balanced than I expected. Good vid.

At 2:54, you mention that the police used to have some level of respect in the community. That really depends on the community. That's why we're having protests today in support of BLM. Neighborhoods of color tend to fear the police because of the level of brutality they've experienced for decades. It took a police officer 9 minutes to kill a person while knowing he was being filmed. His behavior didn't change. Now that is chilling. Really enjoy your channel. Your calm demeanor is so helpful right now and just in general. It's nice to hear the non-judgement in your voice which makes it easier to absorb information without being triggered emotionally.

Dr. Grande doesn't always talk about the five factor model. But when he does, he always remembers it with OCEAN.

You’d be awesome as narrator on certain series /genres..your words and calm pace of dialogue sink in more than other ppl’s. But more than presentation or narration style, you’re brilliantly book smart AND in experience, common sense “street smarts” . IMO, in this topic especially, Your idea and explanation of ‘lesser of two evils’ is right on, and is an award 🥇 worthy theory/essay ..ALL precincts need watch this!!

I think you need to look into Right Enforcement Agencies and polycentric law. We don't need to have a monopoly of police nor law.

Elon Musk personality profile PLEASE

We had satellite police offices in our neighborhoods. They closed them all about 15-20 years ago. It was a bad idea because, before the community got to know the officers on a more personal level. The police got to know the trouble makers and the pillars. My brother is a retired S.W.A.T team officer. Your analyses is pretty spot on. They have an incredibly diffucult job.

This channel is the best source of positivist and scientific outlook.

Authoritarian parenting style contributes to this culture as well. “My way or the highway” leads to children who abuse people when they grow up and get a gun & badge. Dr. Baumrind established this in ‘67.

I was very surprised to hear you say that "places that decide to defund police would become extremely dangerous" and that defunding police would lead to "a guaranteed increase in (...) lawlessness". Have you had a chance to look at any abolitionist texts? The problem with the "law" is 1) it is not applied equally and 2) the very concept of "legality" is arbitrary. slavery was legal. segregation was legal. the systems that have been used to oppress people have historically always had the "law" on their side. Taking money away from these systems to redistribute within the community and actually tackle the symptoms of crime VS throwing them in the system to use for prison labour then spitting them out with no support years later - which one sounds like it would yield better results? We've tried, still trying, one way and it's NOT working.

Very good recommendations. In that, mental health education to deal with citizens and mental health treatment for police officers is fundamental. Without that I can’t see the success of any reform plan. Great video Dr. Grande!

Love your insight. Very thoughtful and well put

Hey, he said the alcoholism word! I think that's a tremendous subject to explore. I think cops are mostly bored half to death much of the time. I don't mean to trivialize what cops do, and I don't think the solution is to excite them more often, but when I play through what I understand must be a cop's average day is versus what that cop probably had in mind when he or she decided they'd like to be a cop, I see a huge potential for a lot of substance abuse and something like communal enabling.

What if L.E. had to regularly meet with mental health professionals as a mandatory part of the job? Any concerns could be addressed early on. Refusal to do so could be punishable by removal from active duty.

A refreshingly sane response and rational comments on a very divisive topic in which too many people claim to know what's best and have the answer when in fact they have zero insight and are acting solely upon an emotional/political response, providing simplistic answers to a complex social problem. In this country, critical thinking is the greatest deficit.

Wow! This was the first and only rational and calm solution I’ve ever heard. Why aren’t you on all the news shows explaining this?