THEORETICAL ANALYSIS OF PROFESSIONALLY IMPORTANT QUALITIES OF POLICE OFFICERS

Abstract

The article analyzes the professionally important qualities of a police officer and the structure of this phenomenon. The author outlines the scientific attempts to study the psychological aspects of police activity and the set of qualitative characteristics necessary for a person to be professionally socialized and successfully perform in the chosen profession. Attention is drawn to the peculiarities of law enforcement officers’ work and requirements for them. The author presents the views of scholars on what personality traits are important for successful professional development. The author outlines the understanding of professionally important qualities, which include individual, psychological, and professional qualities, and which affect both the efficiency of activity and its effectiveness. Attention is focused on the structure of professionally important qualities, which consists of various components identified by researchers in the process of studying this phenomenon: cognitive-activity, personality-reflective, motivational-value components; individual-psychological, which can be combined with personal. The article considers the importance of professional and psychological training of a police officer, which provides the ability to perform specific tasks related to power, extreme conditions, and life-threatening situations. The author emphasizes the importance of law enforcement officer’s communication skills, which combine understanding of the interlocutor’s state of mind and his/her inner world, ability to listen and hear, notice, show empathy, use different means of communication (verbal and non-verbal), and choose the right style of behavior in a conflict. In addition to these characteristics, the author emphasizes the need to have certain levels of development of individual psychological manifestations that allow a police officer to adequately respond to difficult working conditions and adapt to them (brain activity, psychomotor processes, properties of the nervous system, cognitive processes, general abilities, etc.). The author makes an attempt to theoretically outline the general structure of professionally important qualities of a police officer and to identify important components for successful professional development. The development of this structure is accompanied by the passage of certain professional stages with the formation of mental neoplasms which allow a police officer to successfully perform his/her activities.