Law and Order

JUL 2012

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ON THE JOB NEWS EYE ON EDUCATION DISCIPLINE SOCIAL NETWORKING JUST HANDED DOWN MISSION CRITICAL COMMUNICATIONS Risk Management Meets Psychology Unconscious reactions can cause behavioral changes. By Randy Means Randy Means is a partner in Thomas & Means, a law firm specializing entirely in police operations and administration. He has served the national law enforcement community full time for more than 30 years and is the author of "The Law of Policing," which is available at LRIS.com. He can be reached directly at rbmeans@aol.com. critical decision-making as well. Research from many branches of psychology and other sci- ences is now demonstrating that behaviors and actions are often affected by factors that are not obvious to the person involved. These factors color perceptions, influence decision-making, and change behavior. he way we think about and label people and events affects the way we feel about those people and those events. The way we feel about people and events often affects the way we behave to- ward those people and those events. Behavior based on negative feelings toward people can be extremely dangerous, physically and legally. Offi- cers should seek to identify the source of emotion and its usefulness or va- lidity. This kind of awareness leads to more appropriate decision-making. Human beings constantly judge people, things and concepts. We often make evaluations and judgments in a few seconds or less and very often without conscious effort or awareness. The process is automatic, natural and a powerful influence on how we respond. In some circumstances, this process is good. For example, it sometimes can help us with appropriate threat perception. T But suppose an officer has developed a strong belief that wearing pants in a way that reveals half of one's underwear is a strong indicator of a person's likelihood to commit crime and engage in bad behavior more generally. Suppose further that this same officer is investigating a dispute over who is at fault at a traffic accident; one driver has observable under- wear and the other does not. The officer's conscious, rational mind knows that underwear display is not evidence of poor driving or untruthfulness. The officer's unconscious and less rational brain may not agree and may cause him to decide the driver with the "bad pants" is more likely to be at fault and more likely to be lying in his account of the incident. Whether this dynamic is based on confirmation bias, implicit bias, the Pygmalion Effect, emotional response or just simple stereotyping, it is important and dangerous; this same phenomenon can infect more 14 LAW and ORDER I July 2012 Much human behavior, especially in stressful situations, is driven by emotion rather than logic. The release of stress chemicals (the "adrenaline dump") can reduce the influence of the rational part of our brain on what we do or say. Dur- ing the prelude to extreme emotional arousal, there may be an opportunity for the individual to consciously force rational thinking into their response and self-regulate their feelings and be- havior. But if the rational brakes are not or cannot be applied, an individual's use of reason can be- come so impaired that they are subject to serious mistakes in decision-making. Emotional Intelligence In the selection and development of today's pro- fessional police officer, increasing emphasis is placed, very correctly, on attributes definitive of what is now called emotional intelligence. Emo- tional intelligence includes both interpersonal and intrapersonal intelligence. Interpersonal in- telligence is the ability to understand other peo- ple as to what motivates them, what makes them behave as they do, and how to influence and work cooperatively and positively with them. In- trapersonal intelligence includes the same abili- ties, but applied to oneself. The more able we are to manage our own emo- tions, the more able we are to control our own behavior(s) – to make sure we are acting ratio- nally, in our own interests and the interests of the public we serve. The more able we are to manage the emotions of others, the more able we are to communicate with them, investigate successfully, and de-escalate high-risk or potentially high-risk situations. This is good for everybody, with the possible exception of some criminals.

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