Course Details
| Course Title | IACP 2026 - Dual Duties: Police Psychology Between Ethics and Organizational Pressure |
| Date |
10/26/2026
|
| Provider | IACP-PPSS |
| Phone | |
| Email | |
| Website |
https://www.theiacpconference.org/schedule-at-a-glance/#site-navigation
|
| Location | Orlando, FL |
| Credit Hours | 1 |
| Instructor(s) | Libbi Palmer, PsyD, ABPP |
| Method of Instruction | Workshop/Seminar |
| Approving Agency | APA |
| Course Syllabus |
|
Course Description
This seminar examines the recurring ethical, legal, and operational dilemmas faced by psychologists who provide services to law enforcement agencies, including pre-employment psychological screening, fitness-for-duty evaluation, consultation, peer support, crisis response, training, and organizational advising. Police psychologists are often asked to serve multiple stakeholders at once: the individual officer or applicant, the employing agency, the public, the profession of psychology, and the legal and regulatory systems that govern public safety practice. These overlapping responsibilities can create high-stakes conflicts involving confidentiality, informed consent, dual-role relationships, disclosure of psychological information, agency pressure, public safety concerns, documentation, impartiality, and the limits of advocacy.
Course Objectives
Describe the common ethical conflicts in pre-employment psychological evaluations in public safety hiring
Identify ethical and legal consideration in candidate disclosure, informed consent, testing, interviewing, and use of background information
Distinguish evaluator responsibilities to the hiring agency, the applicant, the public, and the profession when rendering suitability opinions
Apply defensible documentation and communication practices when reporting pre-employment evaluation findings and other information to decision-makers