The purpose of this paper is to identify an appropriate conceptual model of empathy from the perspective of police work. This paper draws on the existing literature from two areas of research: (a) the literature describing the characteristics of the ideal police officer from a general perspective, as well as in a specifically Swedish context and (b) the literature analysing empathy as a theoretical construct. It is found that theoretical interdisciplinary approaches in the fields of social psychology and social cognitive neuroscience are relevant. The suggested conceptual model of empathy appropriate for the policing profession incorporates the typically antagonistic nature of police -citizen contacts, personal traits as expressed in interpersonal relations, and the social and cultural context. Because of the diversity and multicultural nature of modern societies, the values guiding police -citizen encounters are given special attention and related to the empathy research tradition. The proposed conceptual model of empathy aims at guiding future research in police-citizen interaction and, ultimately, supporting police practices regarding recruitment, career advancement and fieldwork.

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Purpose Perspective taking (PT), as part of the empathy concept, is an important ability in the police profession. It is important to understand how PT can be measured, but also whether it changes over time. The purpose of this paper is to compare the outcomes of three different measures of PT, and to see whether police students’ PT changes at different stages of their education. Design/methodology/approach Three measures, one self-reported and two objective tests, were administered to Swedish National Police recruits at three distinct stages of their police training. The outcomes of the measures were psychometrically analyzed, after which associations between measures and between-group differences were assessed. Findings The result showed that the measures provided results that were in line with what had been reported in earlier studies. There were no significant correlations between the total scores of the three measures, yet students who graded their abilities higher on the subjective instrument did perform better on one of the objective tests. The findings also showed that recruits in later parts of their training self-reported significantly lower PT values than recruits at the beginning of their training. Originality/value This study adds knowledge on the ability of different types of instruments to measure PT and how this construct may develop over time among police recruits.

As societies are becoming more heterogeneous and complex, the role of the police is becoming more demanding. To fulfil this role, police officers need several widely recognised skills and personal qualities, but less is known about how they are valued by police recruits. Thus, we have examined views of police recruits in six European countries on three competencies or characteristics of known importance for police work: knowledge, leadership, and the ability to form good relations with citizens. We have also explored variations in views of recruits in different organisations and changes in their views during their training. For these purposes, we used survey data collected in the RECPOL project. Since the data were collected from different populations and at different times, the analysis is based on measurement invariance methodology, and one of the aims was to highlight the importance of rigorous appraisal of the quality and comparability of similar survey data using such methods. The results reveal both differences and similarities in views of recruits in the surveyed countries and changes during training. Police culture appears to be a significant factor, as more items in the applied instrument could be validly used in comparisons of recruits in organisations with similar police traditions. The results also showed interesting contrasts, e.g. new recruits in Sweden rated good relations with citizens more highly than recruits in organisations with a more military history, but this pattern changed during training, presumably due to influences of the recruitment process, training and culture within the organisations.