RCMP and use of Force

A Reasonable Officer: Examining the Relationship between Stress, Training, and Performance in Use of Force Encounters

Disclaimer

• The views and opinions expressed in this presentation are those of the authors and do not reflect the official policy or position of any agency or the Government of Canada.

• All material presented is open source information.

Overview

• This study consists of two main studies:

  • Study 1: Stress-Activity Mapping: Physiological Responses during General Duty Police Encounters.

  • Study 2: A Reasonable Officer: Examining the Relationship between Stress, Training, and Performance in a Highly Realistic Lethal Force Scenario.

Key Themes and Concepts

Stress and Performance

• Acute Stress: Refers to immediate psychological and physiological responses to a perceived threat.

• Impact of Stress on Performance: High levels of stress can negatively affect an officer's performance during use-of-force encounters.

• Moderating Factors:

  • Experience

  • Training

Evidence and Standards

• The material provides evidence to inform:

  • Police Training: Effectiveness of training in high-stress scenarios.

  • Reasonableness Standard: Legal context framed by Graham v. Connor (1989), which states that "reasonableness of a particular use of force must be judged from the perspective of a reasonable officer on the scene, and its calculus must embody an allowance for split-second decisions about the amount of force necessary."

Study 1: Stress-Activity Mapping

Objectives

• To map physiological responses in officers during general duty encounters.

Researchers

• Simon Baldwin, PhD (Carleton University)

• Judith P. Andersen, PhD (University of Toronto)

• Bryce Jenkins, MA (Carleton University)

• Tori Semple, MA (Carleton University)

• Craig Bennell, PhD (Carleton University)

Methods

• Sample: 64 general duty officers in British Columbia, Canada, across 114 shifts, with 754 officer responses to 593 calls for service (CFS).

• Equipped with:

  • Heart Rate (HR) monitors

  • GPS devices

  • Inertia monitoring devices

• Analyses conducted on operational files, use-of-force reports, and dispatch data.

Case Studies

• Included incidents such as:

  • Assault with a weapon

  • Suicidal subject and Motor Vehicle Accident (MVA)

  • Details included duration, distance traveled, average heart rates, and other metrics.

Quantitative Analysis

• Measures:

  • Heart Rate: resting HR (HRrest), maximum HR (HRpeak), HRpeak above resting.

  • Movement: Speed (km/h).

  • Incident Factors:

  • Priority levels: 1 (very urgent), 2 (urgent), 3 (routine).

  • Weapons accessibility, arrest incidents, and use of force.

Descriptive Statistics

• Presented data for different call priorities with means (M), standard deviations (SD), and sample sizes (n).

  • For example, HRpeak above resting changes during different phases of the call.

Regression Analysis Results

• Fixed effects measured across factors such as phase of call, sex, age, years of service, call priority, and use-of-force details.

• Cardiovascular activity increased during stressful phases of police engagements.

• Example Formula: $HR<em>{estimated} = HR</em>{rest} + intercept + priority + weaponreported + movement + useofforce$.

Study Implications

• Stress-activity mapping provides a detailed insight into physiological responses during police encounters.

• Findings indicate a relationship between stress, training, and performance.

Study 2: A Reasonable Officer

Objectives

• Examining the relationship between stress, training, and performance during a realistic lethal force scenario.

Hypotheses

1. Expectation of elevated stress reactivity compared to naturalistic use-of-force encounters.

2. Moderation by training and years of service.

3. Higher stress levels correlate with poorer performance.

4. Higher training should correlate with better performance.

Participants

• Sample included 122 active-duty officers, primarily male (81.1%) with an average age of 38 years and average service of 11 years.

• Education levels varied.

Measures

• Stress reactivity monitored via cardiovascular responses (Heart Rate - HR, Heart Rate Variability - HRV), and self-reported perceptual/cognitive distortions.

• Training metrics included amount and type of training.

• Performance metrics focused on judgment and decision-making related to lethal force scenarios.

Stress-Inducing Scenario Elements

• Factors that contribute to stress included time pressure, task load, threat levels, and ambiguity of the situation.

Results

• A critical phase in the scenario reached an average of 150 bpm (75 bpm above pre-scenario resting rate).

• Cognitive distortions were mainly reported, with significant areas including tension and attention focus being affected.

Performance Findings

• Overall performance score for the scenario was 59%. Factors affecting performance include:

  • Increase in level of training leads to a corresponding increase in performance scores.

  • Conversely, years of service negatively influenced performance outcomes in the context of elevated stress.

• 27.9% of participants made one or more lethal force errors, with stress reactivity being a significant factor in these errors.

Legal and Training Implications

• Objective reasonableness standard impacts how performance under stress is analyzed.

• Organizations may need to reconsider their training models to better prepare officers for real-world stress scenarios to reduce performance deficits and errors during critical incidents.

Conclusion and Further Research

• Emphasis on evidence-based training and the importance of psychological preparedness in dynamic situations faced by law enforcement officers.

• Recommendations for integrating stress management and decision-making training into police curricula based on findings from the physiological and performance data collected.