Information and Psychological Security of Employees of Law Enforcement Agencies and Law Enforcement Agencies: The State and Prospects of Research

The article is devoted to the analysis of issues related to ensuring informational and psychological security for members of the security forces and law enforcement agencies. The focus is on such aspects as: ensuring personal security at the level of assimilating patterns of optimal official behavior in working with information; the total informatization of agency activities and the problem of special professional training of employees; the development of informational and psychological security technologies during ongoing hybrid warfare; analysis of the consequences of negative informational and psychological impacts on the personnel of security and law enforcement agencies; and the study of the role of the media and social networks in violating informational and psychological security. The material provides an orientation towards foreign approaches to countering informational threats to employees of security forces and law enforcement agencies. The authors show that informational and psychological counteraction, under the current conditions of Russia's special military operation in Ukraine and the expansion of sanctions, should be doctrinally regulated by the state, not only within security and law enforcement agencies. Prospective research areas identified include: forecasting psychological threats, psychological resilience and security in communication with the population during emergencies, the impact of false information on legal consciousness and interpersonal relations in the law enforcement environment, informational propaganda, and overcoming the deficit (limitations) of information relevant to society.

1. Cox S.M., Marchionna S., Fitch B.D. Introduction to Policing. Thousand Oaks: SAGE Publications, 2015. 456 p.
2. Đan A., Đorđević S. Psychological support for police officers: the role of manager [Elektronnyi resurs]. In Đan A., Đorđević S., Litavski J., Kostić N.D., Collection of policy papers on police reform in Serbia. Belgrade: Belgrade Centre for Security Policy, 2014, pp. 6—31. URL: https://bezbednost.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/collection_of_policy_papers_on_police_reform_in_se_20140227_103724.pdf#page=6 (Accessed 26.08.2024).
3. Future Law Enforcement Scenarios [Elektronnyi resurs]. In Silberglitt R., Chow B.G., Hollywood J.S., Woods D., Zaydman M., Jackson B.A., Visions of Law Enforcement Technology in the Period 2024—2034: Report of the Law Enforcement Futuring Workshop. Santa Monica: RAND Corporation, 2015, pp. 21—34. URL: https://www.ojp.gov/pdffiles1/nij/grants/248718.pdf (Accessed 26.08.2024).
4. Gul S.K. Police Job Stress in the USA. Polis Bilimleri Dergisi, 2008. Vol. 10, no. 1, pp. 1—13.
5. Horák F., Lacko D., Klocek A. Legal Consciousness: A Systematic Review of its Conceptualization and Measurement Methods. Anuario de Psicología Jurídica, 2021. Vol. 31, no. 1, pp. 9—34. DOI:10.5093/apj2021a2
6. Horton J. How US police training compares with the rest of the world [Elektronnyi resurs]. BBC News. 2021. URL: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-56834733?ysclid=m0c3izrctr373231832 (Accessed 26.08.2024).
7. Hollywood J.S., Boon J.E., Silberglitt R., Chow B.G., Jackson B.A. Information Technology Needs for Law Enforcement [Elektronnyi resurs]. In Hollywood J.S., Boon J.E., Silberglitt R., Chow B.G., Jackson B.A., High-Priority Information Technology Needs for Law Enforcement. Santa Monica: RAND Corporation, 2015, pp. 25—50. URL: https://www.ojp.gov/pdffiles1/nij/grants/248594.pdf (Accessed 27.08.2024).
8. Jonsson O. Information Warfare. In Jonsson O., The Russian Understanding of War: Blurring the Lines between War and Peace. Washington: Georgetown University Press, 2019, pp. 94—123. DOI:10.2307/j.ctvr697c8.8
9. Kaleigh A.D., Charles G.L. Generalizing across behavior settings can make attitudes toward social groups more extreme in the absence of new information. European Journal of Social Psychology, 2022. Vol. 52, no. 1, pp. 91—104. DOI:10.1002/ejsp.2817
10. Linklater K. Inclusion Capital: How Police Officers Are Included in Their Workplaces. Societies, 2022. Vol. 12, no. 5, article ID 128. 19 p. DOI:10.3390/soc12050128
11. Losavio M.M., Shutt J.E., Keeling D.W. The information polity: Social and legal frameworks for critical cyber infrastructure protection. In Saadawi T., Jordan L. (eds.), Cyber infrastructure protection. Carlisle: Strategic Studies Institute — US Army War College, 2011, pp. 129—158.
12. Magers J.S. Police Officer Standard and Training Commissions (POST Commissions) [Elektronnyi resurs]. In Sullivan L.E., Rosen M.S. (eds.), Encyclopedia of Law Enforcement. Vol. 1. Thousand Oaks: SAGE Publications, 2005, pp. 349—351. URL: https://iuristebi.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/law-enforcement-volume-1.pdf (Accessed 26.08.2024).
13. Meares T.L. The Path Forward: Improving the dynamics of community-police relationships to achieve effective law enforcement policies [Elektronnyi resurs]. Columbia Law Review, 2017. Vol. 117, no. 5, pp. 1355—1368. URL: https://openyls.law.yale.edu/handle/20.500.13051/4711 (Accessed 26.08.2024).
14. Maheshwari N., Kumar V.V. (eds.) Military psychology: Concepts, Trends and Interventions. New Delhi: SAGE Publications, 2016. 376 p. DOI:10.4135/9789353885854
15. Mitchell C.L., Doriann E.H. Consultation in Police and Public Safety Psychology. In Falender C.A., Shafranske E.P. (eds.), Consultation in Psychology: A Competency-Based Approach. Washington: American Psychological Association, 2020, pp. 279—300. DOI:10.1037/0000153-016
16. Gorzka R.-J., Kirchhof G., Herzberg P., Hanssen N., Lorei C. Operational Psychology: Cyberpsychology Symposium. Hanover, 2024. 135 p.
17. Stogner J., Miller B.L., McLean K. Police stress, mental health, and resiliency during the COVID-19 pandemic. American journal of criminal justice, 2020. Vol. 45, no 4, pp. 718—730. DOI:10.1007/s12103-020-09548-y
18. Terrill W., Paoline III E.A., Manning P.K. Police culture and coercion. Criminology, 2003. Vol. 41, no. 4, pp. 1003—1034. DOI:10.1111/j.1745-9125.2003.tb01012.x
19. Workman-Stark A.L. “Me” versus “We”: exploring the personal and professional identity-threatening experiences of police officers and the factors that contribute to them. Police Practice and Research, 2023. Vol. 24, no. 2, pp. 147—163. DOI:10.1080/15614263.2022.2119971