Anonymous asked this question on 5/6/2000:

I have recently under gone police testing to become a police officer in Canada, and was found to be not fit for service after conducting an MMPI 2 and a 1 hour debrief with a psychologist. My question is how accurate are these tests as some of the findings where in my opinion on the money while others did not seem to fit me at all, when I left the session there was no indication of a serious problem. My back round is that the last ten years I have served my nation as a light infantry soldier, and with that have seen many things such as war torn nations as well as internal natural disasters. It is the dep. of defences policy that after all over sea tours of duty that the soldiers see a military psychologist and when I did he gave me the green light that I had no problems. Is it possible that because of my backround that I might not fit into the "normal" test group range, and if so is it not also possible that I may in fact turn out to be an outstanding police officer as I was once an outstanding soldier. I am seeking any and all information on this matter as information is the key to achieving my goal, as a change in some of the areas of my personality may be required.

jillyk gave this response on 5/7/2000:

The realm of the professional soldier and the police officer are very different indeed. There is the possibility that you are absoutely right. The police force (or service as it is known in Australi) is now a very much welfare oriented organisation and now to become a police officer here, you must graduate from the academy in a degree in policing from an accredited university. The fact that you have seen overseas action and you have relayed your own experiences of your tour of duty, might have given the psychologist the idea that you might revert back to the soldiers way of thinking and turn vigilante. The emphasis is on gentle pursuasion rather than force to obtain a positive result. I ask you whether you have had extensive debriefing from the army of your experiences, if not there might be the possibility of you attending a death or a violent situation that might bring forth an episode of trauma that you might thought you had come to terms with, yet your underlying thought mislead you and it is still very real in your subconscious and it could resurface at any time. You may appeal this decision and ask them for a detailed explanation as for their refusal to let you join. Is there any possibility of you taking an independent psychological exam and obtaining the results to the police application board? Just a thought. The independent test would show you where you might have failed. In either case I wish you well. :)Jillyk.