Cops and stress: What PNP tests can or cannot tell

INQUIRER FILE PHOTO / NIÑO JESUS ORBETA

MANILA, Philippines — Two killings blamed on drunken police officers last month prompted Philippine National Police chief Guillermo Eleazar to consider requiring a neuropsychiatric exam every three years for all the 220,000 members of the force.

A police officer normally takes a psychiatric psychological examination, or PPE, administered by the PNP Health Service’s Department of Psychiatry only on three occasions: during application or recruitment, when the officer is up for a promotion and when the officer is about to take mandatory schooling.

Eleazar revealed the plan on Thursday during a television interview where he was asked what measures were being considered to curb an officer’s drunken behavior.

A video that has gone viral showed Police Master Sergeant Hensie Zinampan, who appeared drunk, shooting 52-year-old Lilybeth Valdez in the neck on May 31. Zinampan reportedly was in a fistfight with the victim’s son weeks earlier.

Just a day prior, Police Cpl. Sherwin Rebot, also reportedly drunk, fatally shot Police Cpl. Higiro Wayan after losing to him in an arm wrestling match.

Eleazar said the requirement of more frequent neuropsychiatric tests for police officers was discussed with the PNP Health Service.

Sen. Ronaldo dela Rosa, a former PNP chief, proposed annual tests after Police Staff Sergeant Jonel Nuezca shot a woman and her son during an altercation in December 2020 in Tarlac province. President Duterte supported the proposal.

Mental fitness check

Police Lt. Col. Michelle Cruz, a medical doctor and head of the health service’s psychiatry department, said the purpose of a PPE is to check a person’s mental fitness and to measure his IQ (intelligence quotient), and EQ (emotional quotient), or emotional intelligence.

“But it is not an exam meant to detect aggression or aggressive behavior,” the psychiatrist said in a phone interview.

Cruz said the tendency toward aggression can be gleaned “in only one part” that measures a person’s EQ in a series of exams.

The PPE will help the examiners see whether the officers taking the test have certain “personality traits” that could be manifested in their answers to questions, she said, without mentioning what those traits were. Examinees refused admission into the PNP are told: “You did not fail the neuropsychiatric test but you did not fulfill the criteria needed to become a police officer.”

PPEs “can be used as a monitoring tool” in the same way that a general physical exam with laboratory tests helps tell a person’s state of health, Cruz said.

More tests, better monitoring

More frequent tests will ensure better monitoring of an officer’s mental health and fitness, she added.

She said the plan to conduct more frequent PPEs was a recommendation of the PNP Health Service, although it might face manpower challenges as the psychiatry department only has 39 staff members, including three psychiatrists. Nationwide, the department has a staff of only 137.

Cruz said the National Police Commission (Napolcom), which has administrative control and supervision over the PNP, “asks for” the PPE results.

The Napolcom’s functions include the “administration of police entrance examinations, the conduct of precharge investigation of police anomalies and irregularities, and summary dismissal of erring police officers.”

Violent tendency

The tendency toward violent behavior was discussed in a convention with the Philippine Psychiatric Association when Cruz was completing her residency at V. Luna Medical Center.

“My training officer asked this—whether certain exams could predict (violent behavior). And the answer is that there is no psychiatric test that could predict future violence,” she recalled.

According to Cruz, the PNP’s neuropsychiatric tests “are standardized exams recognized around the world” and at are par with those given to members of the Armed Forces of the Philippines.

The exams are updated to keep up with changing situations, she said. “Because we are evolving as an institution, we tailor-fit the exams for police officers,” she said.

But Cruz stressed that a test was just a snapshot of an officer’s mental fitness when he or she took it.

“Passing the test means an applicant, for example, was mentally fit at that time,” she said.

Just as an ordinary person can become physically unfit due to poor diet, lack of exercise and other factors, a police officer also grapples with “mental stressors.” But identifying which one would eventually cause behavioral problems cannot be determined in a neuropsychiatric test, Cruz said.

“Among possible sources of stress are family, financial issues, his work and physical environment, even social issues. We cannot just pinpoint and say, ‘This is the culprit,’” she said.

A body with a story

Cruz refused to disclose details of the neuropsychiatric tests, citing confidentiality.

However, she said one “projective” test was to sketch a person with all parts of the body.

“Make a story about it. Next, draw a person of the opposite gender and make a story as well. We get a lot of information about the person taking it,” Cruz said.

Two police officers who recently took the exams said that test was the most challenging.

Sean, a police senior master sergeant who is up for promotion, and Henry (not their real names), a police colonel awaiting reinstatement after an unauthorized leave, both sketched their mothers.

Sean joined the PNP in 2005 and had already taken three neuropsychiatric exams. He said the drawing was part of the written tests and became the basis for many questions during the subsequent oral exam.

“I drew my mother and described her. Then I was asked to draw the ‘opposite,’ which is my father,” he said.

“The examiners looked at my drawings and checked if the persons had complete body parts. I was told before the tests that if one’s drawing does not have ears, for example, that means something. Fingers and toes must be visible. It was hard because I could not draw well,” Sean said.

Consistency is key

Henry drew his mother because she inspired him to finish his course in criminology.

“The oral exams were also tough because your answers have to be consistent with those you gave in the written exams,” he said.

Henry, who joined the PNP in 1994 and had also taken three tests, said he kept in mind a lesson he learned in one subject called Practice Court.

“We were trained to cross examine individuals. The key is to keep answers consistent,” he said.

Sean said part of the written exams was sentence completion.

“There was one that said, ‘My mother is …’ and another that said, ‘My father is …’ and you have to fill in the blanks in English,” he said. “There was also a question on the environment. ‘Would you be scared if you see a snake?’ I think it shows how you react to stimuli. I got a tip that you must answer it in a positive way or it would mean you’re not a friendly person.”

Cruz did not say what the passing score was for the neuropsychiatric tests.

“All of the series of exams should be correlated and should fulfill the criteria of what a police officer should be,” she said.

Sean and Henry said they had talked with their respective colleagues about the recent killings.

Sean believes such incidents happen “to those who resort to vice to cope with stress.”

Mentoring by a senior officer is key to preventing this, he said. His unit has a program called Spiritual Weekly Interactive Meeting, or SWIM, where four to five officers in a group meet via Zoom “to keep tabs on each other.”

According to Cruz, the PNP psychiatry department also conducts anger and stress management seminars to help safeguard the officers’ mental health.

“There is also stress debriefing after physical incidents, like if a fellow police officer dies during an operation. Even debriefing for police officers’ families,” she said. Henry said he has realized, based on his observation and experience, that the violent behavior of some policemen “is usually triggered by quarrels within the family.”

“If you give in to provocation, the police would really be in the wrong,” he said. “There must be maximum tolerance. Stress management is discussed in police training, including patience and how to hold your temper. But before you undergo training, you must pass the neuropsychiatric test first.”