Police Decision-Making

Police officers are said to be the gatekeepers of the criminal justice system. They must make a variety of key judgements in the course of their duty and contacts with people in their jurisdiction. Officers employ normative factors like accountability and blameworthiness and pragmatic efficiency criteria like the likelihood of conviction, the amount of time and effort required, and so on, to make decisions.

Officers have a lot of legal authority and make many significant judgment that have an impact on the liberty and safety of citizens. Therefore, it’s crucial to understand how they make these judgments and what the societal repercussions are.

Traditionally, police activity has been reactive, with officers responding to citizen calls after crimes have been committed and communal peace has been broken. Police work also entails proactive surveillance in order to detect criminal conduct while it occurs.

The decision-making process in police organizations is generally made up of these three stages:

1. Intelligence This involves scanning the environment for conditions that require a decision.
2. Design Entails creating, developing, and analyzing possible courses of action, i.e. implementing creative problem solving.
3. Choice Refers to the actual selection of a particular course of action from among available alternatives.

Police officers use different operational styles to inform their arrest judgments, which are based on their general attitudes toward justice and law enforcement obligations. These are the general types of operational styles:

• The Tough Law Enforcer arrests major offenders and rule breakers
• The Mediator prioritizes community peace and frequently employs mediation and other informal techniques to address conflicts
• The Rule Follower makes arrest choices based on organizational policy or legal regulations

The normative frame and the efficiency frame are two key decision frames. Officers who focus on who is responsible for the harm in the normative frame; they focus on whether there is enough evidence to get a conviction in the efficiency frame.

Influences in Police Decision-Making

• Emotions Individuals are more prone to engage in acts based on broad generalizations and have a stronger belief in the legitimacy of these activities when their emotions are high. As a result, emotions may play a significant influence in judgment and decision-making. While emotions are more directly linked to the experiential system, they are not regarded as the system’s decision-making base.
• Anger The knowledge that anger adds to the appraisal of choices may influence policy decisions. On the other hand, when anger is controlled, it works against the natural response that is inherent in the expression and suppression of anger, which frequently occurs in police work. Anger, being a negative affective experience, has distinct consequences on cognitive processes like judgment.
• Anger Control Controlling rage, which is a type of emotional coping, necessitates a reconsideration of an otherwise distressing emotional event in order to alleviate discomfort. Anger control is a type of emotion regulation that involves modifying an emotional response’s sensation and presentation.
• Decision-Making Styles Individual variations can have an impact on decision-making in addition to emotional variables.
• Intuitive Decision-Making Intuitive decision-making is the process of making decisions based on feelings and hunches, and it is associate with a spontaneous approach to decision-making. This decision-making strategy may evolve. Intuitive reasoning, in other words, emerges from instinctive responses, broad experience, and concentrated learning.
• Rational Decision-Making The act of making logical evaluations of options and engaging in exhaustive search techniques is referred to as rational decision-making, and it is adversely connected with a spontaneous approach to decision-making. In other words, compared to intuitive decision-making, rational decision-making is more analytical and slower.

Influences to the Decision-Making Process in Police Organizations

Decision-making in police organizations involves a complex and dynamic process that is influenced by a range of factors:

• Chain of Command Most police organizations have a hierarchical structure, with clear lines of authority and decision-making power. Decisions are typically made by the highest-ranking officers or officials, and these decisions are communicated down the chain of command to lower-ranking officers and staff.
• Policy and Procedure Many decisions in a police organization are guided by established policies and procedures. These policies may be set at the national, state, or local level and provide guidelines for how officers should handle various situations.
• Legal Requirements The Philippine National Police (PNP) is bound by laws and regulations that dictate how they should operate. These legal requirements can influence decisions related to arrests, use of force, and other activities.
• Resource Availability The PNP’s decisions are also influenced by the resources available to them, including funding, manpower, and equipment.
• Public Opinion The PNP is accountable to the public, and their decisions can be influenced by public opinion. The police must balance the needs and expectations of the community they serve while maintaining their duty to upload the law and protect citizens.
• Training and Experience Police Officers receive extensive training and experience, which can help inform their decision-making in the field. This includes training on the use of force, de-escalation techniques, and how to handle various types of crimes and emergencies.

Critical Decision-Making Factors for Police Officers

Making operational decisions is a complicated process. It requires leadership that cares about doing the right thing for everyone. Here are the seven critical decision-making factors for police officers:

1. It is never about you.
2. You have to think globally.
3. Make the right decision for the right reasons.
4. The needs of the community can dictate a decision.
5. Remember that every decision you make has a person attached to it.
6. Do not judge the result – judge the path to the result.
7. Remember the 24-hour rule.