Police and Military as Good Strangers

Abstract

The objective of this project was to understand why and how some police officers and military personnel are more effective than others at managing civilian encounters without creating hostility -'Good Strangers' (GSs). We conducted cognitive task analysis (CTA) interviews with 17 US police officers and 24 US warfighters (Marines and Army soldiers). The interviews yielded a total of 38 incidents (17 police and 21 military), which we used to identify critical skills for functioning as GSs. These skills centred on having a sensemaking frame that established a professional identity as a GS -Someone who seeks opportunities to increase civilian trust in police/military. This frame requires skills in gaining voluntary compliance, building rapport, trading off security and other frames versus trust building, and taking the perspective of civilians. Practitioner pointsTo work effectively with civilians, police and military personnel need to use a Good Stranger frame, which casts each encounter as an opportunity to build trust. This GS frame requires skills such as trading off security to be seen as trustworthy, perspective taking, gaining rapport, gaining voluntary compliance rather than coercive compliance, and de-escalating tense situations. The GS frame may be surprisingly easy to acquire for some police and military; observation of role models and their effectiveness seems to be a powerful training opportunity. Other training leverage points involve peer pressure, becoming more effective at gaining civilian cooperation, and recognizing the problems created by failing to build trust.

Reflections on applications of naturalistic decision making

“…I think it is important to make this point because the Klein, Altman Klein et al . () paper in this special section should be viewed as a starting point for application, not as the sufficient outcome. And that is true of NDM research in general – We want to improve cognitive performance in field settings.…”

“…The study used scenario-based training and increased the Good Stranger mindset of seeking to improve trust by more than 20% (Klein, Borders, Wright, & Newsome, 2015); we are now exploring ways to provide such training to both police departments and to the military. I think it is important to make this point because the Klein, Altman Klein et al (2015) paper in this special section should be viewed as a starting point for application, not as the sufficient outcome. And that is true of NDM research in general -We want to improve cognitive performance in field settings.…”

“…I would like to see more examples of decision aids and models and recommendations that were put into practice and made a difference. For example, the Klein, Altman Klein, Lande, Borders, and Whitacre () paper resulted in a model of how police and military Good Strangers differed from others – How they approached encounters with civilians to foster trust rather than incite antagonism. I think this is a useful finding, with clear implications for training.…”

Improving the Understanding of Psychological Factors Contributing to Horse-Related Accident and Injury: Context, Loss of Focus, Cognitive Errors and Rigidity

“…It is evidence-based and merits consideration in the current context of reducing risks in human–horse interactions, which is a novel arena for the application and extension of his work. There is useful literature on naturalistic decision-making [ 24 , 25 ], in situations that require rapid responses, but this lies beyond the scope of the current article. Indeed, it makes sense to apply established psychological theoretical principles with effective clinical outcomes supported by a body of evidence, to a novel target such as human–horse risks.…”

Ego depletion and the use of force: Investigating the effects of ego depletion on police officers’ intention to use force

“…Cop culture refers to the values and behavioral patterns that determine the way law enforcement officers perform their duty, which are associated with a warrior mindset with demonstrated propensity toward often excessive use of force(Klein, Klein, Lande, Borders, & Whitacre, 2015;Rahr & Rice, 2015;Stoughton, 2016;Weber, 1999). Corresponding influential factors under the umbrella of trait aggressiveness that may favor excessive use of force under ego depletion could include cop culture, hyper vigilance, and threatened egotism.…”