Decision Making in a Crisis

• NCJ Number: 220248
• Journal: Journal of Police Crisis Negotiations Volume: 7 Issue: 2 Dated: 2007 Pages: 5-28
• Author(s): H.H.A. Tony Cooper Ph.D.
• Date Published: 2007
• Length: 24 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Issue Overview
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

After defining "crisis,” this article addresses the dynamics of decisionmaking in a crisis, with attention to such decisionmaking in the law enforcement profession, which usually involves stressful conditions.

Abstract

For the purposes of this article, a "crisis" is defined as "a certain point in the trajectory of an event at which the future course of the matter is determined." A crisis is a moment during which the outcome of an event might be influenced. Police officers, by the nature of their work, have the potential to be involved in crises, such as being confronted by an armed assailant or a hostage situation. Police officers are at the center of the crisis in that they are entrusted with the professional responsibility of making and acting upon decisions that influence the course of the event according to goals associated with law enforcement and public safety. Foresight, preparation, training, skills, and personal qualities are elements that determine what decisions are made and how they are executed. Given the nature of law enforcement work, decisionmaking in a crisis is likely to include the element of "stress," which is defined in this article from a medical perspective as "any interference that disturbs a healthy person's mental and physical well-being." This article is concerned mainly with the stressors that act directly or indirectly upon the human mind so as to influence decisionmaking. Prominent among such stressors is fear, which has the effect of distorting the decisionmaking process by undermining rationality, i.e., the ability to draw logical conclusions about the likely effects of various alternative decisions and whether or not they will advance desired outcomes. In the course of their training, police officers must learn to manage stress so that rationality is preserved in the decisionmaking that largely determines the outcome in crises. 53 notes