Two Sides of the Same Coin: Psychopathy Case Studies From an Urban Police Department

Psychopathy is a personality construct characterized by a lack of empathy, and by callousness, grandiosity, and superficial charm; typically, these traits are found among incarcerated individuals prone to antisocial lifestyles (Cleckley, 1976; Hare, 2003). In recent years, interest has grown exponentially in identifying psychopathic traits in populations where theymay be adaptive in nature, such as business, medicine, emergency responders, and law enforcement (Babiak, Neumann, & Hare, 2010; Hall & Benning, 2006; Smith & Lilienfeld, 2013). When considering law enforcement, personality research suggests that certain traits reminiscent of psychopathy (i.e., decreased emotional response, low stress reactivity, fearlessness) may in fact aid an individual in carrying out police work (Bakker & Heuven, 2006; Schaible & Gecas, 2010). Alternatively, other psychopathic traits (i.e., emotional dysregulation, aggression, impulsivity) could be detrimental to police officers' performance (Lorinskas & Kulis, 1986; Pogarsky & Piquero, 2004). As such, these traits could be considered when screening individuals to serve as law enforcement officers. To further explore psychopathy in police, detailed case illustrations are presented for two officers from an urban police department: one as an example of a positive manifestation of psychopathy in police, and the other as a less adaptive example. These case illustrations suggest that the benefits of psychopathic traits in law enforcement depend greatly on which traits manifest in officers. Practical implementations and areas for future research are discussed.