The OBIS System
What is OBIS?
OBIS, the Online Background Information System, is an internet-based application that gathers background history from candidates applying for police and other public safety positions and communicates that information to the key members of the recruitment team.
Why Was OBIS Developed?
OBIS was initially developed to efficiently collect background information for pre-employment psychological evaluations of police officer candidates. Psychologists use background information, in combination with psychological test data and interview data, to determine the psychological suitability of candidates for law enforcement positions. In fact, background information has been found to be a strong predictor of future job performance and job-related problems for police officers.
However, we quickly learned that background investigators found the background information obtained by OBIS extremely useful for jumpstarting their candidate investigations. The OBIS Background History Report contained detailed and extensive information about candidates’ life history in important dimensions, including education, work, military, legal, financial, family, interpersonal relationships, aggression, alcohol, and drug use. We found that background investigators often did not want to begin their investigations without first getting copies of the OBIS-Background History Report because it would save them time and would point them in the right direction to focus their efforts. In the departments that use OBIS, it has become an integral part of the hiring process.
As a result, we have made OBIS available directly to departments to be used by their 1) background investigators, 2) polygraph investigators, and/or 3) in combination with the department psychologist.
Who We Are
OBIS was developed by Dr. Jay Supnick, Ph.D., ABPP, a nationally known police psychologist specializing in pre-employment psychological evaluations. Dr. Supnick began working with police departments in 1997 when he founded Law Enforcement Psychological Associates. Dr. Supnick is a Board Certified Police Psychologist and is a member of the Police Psychology Service Section of the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP), the Society for Police and Criminal Psychology, the Police and Public Service Section of the American Psychological Association, the American Psychology and Law Society and an Associate Member of the New York State Association of Chiefs of Police.
He has served as the co-chair of the Pre-employment Psychological Screening Guidelines Committee and was on the Psychological Screening for Specialty Units Committee for the IACP Police Psychology Service Section. Dr. Supnick was a consultant for the Guidelines for the Use of a Public Safety Psychological Examination developed by the New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services. Dr. Supnick has been a faculty member of the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry since 1984.
In 2011, Dr. Supnick created APT- Applied Psychological Technologies to market OBIS to Public Safety Agencies and other psychologists who screen candidates.
Sign up for a free trial
We are offering a free trial of OBIS to introduce agencies to it. If you would like a free trial, please contact Applied Psychological Technologies, and we will provide you with everything you need to start.