Page 9 - Top Cover Issue 7

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KIND AND WICKED full of gaps and misperception and it is these crucial elements
SCIENCE ON THE STREET

that can never be captured by camera. Decision choices are
ENVIRONMENTS The murderous threats faced by all three officers Can we train firearms officers to make better decisions in all
frequently very different from filmed images.

were clearly visible as were the unambiguous
actions of the two murderers. The clear intention situations that they encounter?
The dilemma that firearms officers have is that training may to attack officers with a meat cleaver and a handgun triggered Research suggests that regular and varied training coupled
elevate their skills set to a level whereby fast decisions become unequivocal motor responses from all three officers and the with genuine operational practice provides the very best
based upon subconscious neural probability. Personal survival solution to the problem they faced conformed to their prior opportunity to develop good intuitive decision making skills.
will always win this neural competition for any cognitive learning acquired within firearms training. ‘Kind’ can be equated However, human error can never be eliminated from a firearms
Rapid Decision Making information exchange. This notion is extremely uncomfortable to unequivocal, that is - the choice is obvious. encounter. Skills training develops instinctive responses.
to legislators and policy makers who genuinely believe that
that all decisions are arrived at through rational and timely Instinctive responses, when broken down, may be nothing
Jumping to conclusions based upon limited information may just processing. ‘Shooting while assessing’ sounds very precise and other than an informed gamble based upon very limited facts
save your life in certain circumstances, especially where there laudable within policy documents, however it is not always driven by a compelling need to react.
is little or no time to think. Each of us has the ability to make possible to match the dynamics of decision making with the
instantaneous decisions with little or no time to rationally choose. niceties of legalese. Large chunks of visual and audible information may be missed,
The more familiar you become working in high-risk environments, overlooked and irrelevant to the subconscious decision making
the more you rely upon previous experiences which are often Skills training empowers the firearms officer with a high degree process. It is important to realise that many of these gaps
decisions initiated subconsciously. Firearms training sensitises of confidence in their own ability to make good decisions and omissions of detail are effects brought about as a direct
officers to rapidly identify visual cues, and these become the and this personal confidence increases with each and every consequence of training … a by-product of directing attention
precursors enabling the swift identification for threatening successful ‘live’ operation when judgements turned out to be and funnelling attention. Training develops expectation and
movements. Training and operational experience reinforces the correct. Confidence develops when the nature of the incident anticipation and increases the speed for stimulus driven
firearms officers’ ability to generate fast assessments skills, and has a degree of predictability and the decision maker can match decision-making – this is desirable on the one hand but
the ability to initiate subconscious motor responses prior to any the visual information to previous experiences. However, expert investigators must appreciate the flip side of developing fast
comprehensive understanding. decision-making is not necessarily the exact science that some unconscious motor programs is a potential lack of precision in
people assume. In direct contrast the situation encountered by E7 in the Azelle analysing all that is taking place around you.
Rapid decision-making or a ‘gut feeling’ based upon limited Rodney shooting occurred within what should be termed a
information may instantaneously fill us all with a strong and Training can have a very biasing effect and confidence is not ‘wicked’ environment. An environment that denied the officer In the case of E7 what would have happened if he waited - held
compelling feeling to act, however, although decisions made necessarily an accurate guide to making the correct choice precise information and gave no immediate feedback. The his fire for just one second longer, would Azelle Rodney have
under threat may feel ‘strong’, they do run the risk of being just or judging a situation correctly. An interesting feature of environment was framed against an intelligence briefing surrendered or would he have seized the loaded 9mm pistol
as equally ‘wrong’. It should be emphasised that this ‘strong’ but unconscious (fast) decision-making is that people’s actions describing a machine pistol; this was inaccurate but critical, from the seat next to him, firing randomly at the public and
‘wrong’ aspect to skills training and decision making has no simple frequently precede their understanding of why they have just since it primed and anchored a mindset for what any sudden police?
antidote without the luxury of time and distance from any threat. acted in a particular way. In other words, they use the outcome movement by Rodney could mean. The decision to shoot or
Even then, all of us have the ability to disregard information if of the event to make sense – at a conscious level – of what they wait had to be taken solely upon the personal understanding We will of course never know what Rodney was about to do at
it does not match the preferred solution identified by our brain. have just done – at a subconscious level. In the face of ambiguity of what the partially concealed head and arm movements the precise moment E7 fired, and no amount of new questioning
or new investigative process will bring us nearer to the truth of
the human brain rapidly favours one interpretation and is then meant - a personal belief of imminent threat. Add to this the
Strong but wrong decisions are made by all of us in our daily loathe to part with it. visual detail, obscured behind a shattered passenger window as determining Rodney’s intent. However, the prosecution of E7 for
lives, yet little attention is paid to decision making unless there shots were fired. ‘Kind’ and ‘wicked’ environments are therefore the murder of Azelle Rodney really does highlight the perilous
is a negative outcome. Psychological theory suggests that within Psychological research suggests that we should think specifically very different. A kind environment where the public are able to nature of decision making now facing all firearms officers brave
the brain there is a chain of operations that lead from visual about two distinct types of circumstances where decisions must understand and identify that a correct decision to shoot was enough to enter ‘wicked’ environments. If you find yourself with
perception to action commands; a common code develops be made; these are often referred to as ‘kind’ environments and made by police may lead to praise. just a split second to decide – lets hope your intuition is correct!
for what visual information means to the individual, and this ‘wicked’ environments. Operational decisions are made within ‘Wicked’ environments provide critics with many more lines
becomes interpreted and matched to the individual’s knowledge. both types of situations and good decisions are more likely to of argument and opportunity to develop ‘rational’ or ‘logical’
This is why individual interpretation is so important when giving be made in ‘kind’ situations and error is more likely to appear suggestions as to why the officer was wrong, and outcome
evidence justifying what you have done and underpins the within in ‘wicked’ environments. knowledge fuels the legal attack on the credibility of the officer’s
notion for an ‘honestly held belief’. decision-making processes. Generally speaking, the analysis of
In ‘kind’ environments, people receive accurate and timely decision-making without any time pressure allows investigators
Neuroscience informs us that rapid decision-making occurs with feedback that allows them to consciously assess and deliberate; the opportunity to consider a wider selection of potential
an incredibly fast ‘feed forward sweep’ of visual information, and they may then shape and alter their responses as appropriate. solutions that could or should have been taken, investigators
this occurs before any rational process of problem solving can However, in ‘wicked’ environments, feedback is frequently operate in a ‘kind’ learning environment when compared to the
be applied. This means that visual stimuli are subconsciously lacking or misleading and people must commit to a rapid choice split second decision-maker.
matched against familiar outcomes lodged within our long-term built upon experience and confidence alone. Errors become far
memory, subconsciously, within hundredths of 1second. more likely when firearms officers operate in ‘wicked’ situations Investigators have time to reflect upon their initial thoughts and WRITTEN BY DAVE BLOCKSIDGE
where intelligence could be wrong and misinterpreted – moderate and change their assessment; they build a greater
Based upon limited information the brain will try and resolve the however, the proximity of threat and time pressure demands understanding for what may have led to a more preferred
threatening dilemma based upon ‘what usually’ happens – and action from the officer in order to save life and they are forced outcome. However, in many firearms situations the ‘gist’ of what
this can occur without any recurrent processing by the brain in into making a choice. is happening may be the sole trigger for your action. In this
the ‘solutions’ storage area. Recurrent processing means that ‘wicked’ split second ‘What you see is all there is’. Without the
neurons within the brain ‘share’ information and an analysis is The murder of Gunner Lee Rigby at Woolwich placed 3 Met luxury of time, what you personally understood and experienced
made between brain cells, however, under extreme time pressure Police ARV officers into what psychology would define a ‘kind’ embeds a memory for your honestly held belief. This memory
this comparison may not be made and the decision you make decision making environment… albeit both a terrifying and may be full and accurate, but may just as equally be a memory
becomes the first solution identified. deadly one!