Telemedicine existed long before the COVID-19 global pandemic; however, it was not widely used, and it was the pandemic that normalized the idea of telemedicine as a delivery method. Prior to the pandemic, conducting pre-employment psychological evaluations (PPEs) of police officer candidates remotely/virtually was done only by a small number of professionals, and this was largely limited to work being done in remote areas with few competent professionals available for the work (e.g., Alaska, rural Washington, and Indian reservations). During the pandemic, remotely conducting PPEs was initially a necessity and eventually became common practice among psychologists who specialize in working with police agencies.

“There is no published research to suggest that in-person interviews are better than virtual (or vice versa) for PPE. There is, however, research available that reflects the PPE delivery methods are equivalent.”

Following the resolution of the pandemic, it seemed timely to assess the delivery methods for PPEs among psychologists who work with police agencies. To that end, Dr. Lewis Schlosser conducted an informal, brief survey of the psychologists who are members of the IACP Police Psychological Services Section regarding PPE of police officer candidates. The questions posed on the section’s email listserv included (1) whether the psychologist conduct PPE in person, virtually, or both; (2) in what states did the psychologist practice; and (3) did the state’s Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training or Police Training Commission opine or mandate how the PPE was to be conducted (i.e., in person or virtually). There were 24 psychologists who responded to the survey; they worked in a total of 27 U.S. states. Of the 24 psychologists, 16 (66 percent) reported conducting PPE both in person and virtually, whereas 4 (17 percent) reported conducting them only in person and 4 (17 percent) reported conducting them only virtually. Finally, only two states represented in the sample opined anything regarding how the PPE must be conducted. Maryland requires in-person PPE (although this requirement was paused during the COVID-19 pandemic), and California states that the interview must be “face to face,” but that includes in-person and virtual modalities.

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