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Police use of force is the application in a law enforcement capacity of physical or psychological coercion against citizens. Under the law, police officers have the authority to use force for enforcing laws, preventing criminal activity, defending others, and defending themselves. They have the discretionary power to use different degrees of force against citizens who choose to violate the law. Forceful responses can range from officer presence to the use of weapons. One approach to understanding forceful responses against citizens is psychological. There is psychological knowledge bearing on (a) how officers formulate and carry out their decisions to use force by encoding situational information, making a decision to act, developing a plan of action, and initiating action; (b) how officers' involvement in a force situation puts them at risk of experiencing stress that causes unfavorable changes in their perception and memory; (c) how police candidates with particular personality traits are at risk of on-the-job problems with using force; and (d) how officers whose job-related experiences involve traumatic force situations are vulnerable to developing behaviors that lead to the use of excessive force.

Decision Making

An officer formulates and carries out a decision to use force against a citizen by encoding situational information, making a decision to act, developing a plan of action, and initiating action.

Encoding Situational Information. Encoding is a process in which the officer attends to situational conditions. It involves the sensory register, the first structure of the officer's memory system. The sensory register is responsible for registering all features of the force situation through sensory functions—for example, seeing a citizen holding a gun, hearing a gunshot, and smelling gunfire. Sensory systems keep the officer informed about the force situation. They extract information and convert it to electrical impulses that travel to the thalamus, which is located in the diencephalon of the brain. The thalamus directs sensory input to associated cortex areas of the brain, where the officer becomes aware of sensation and interprets it.

Making a Decision to Act. Making a decision to act takes place in the officer's short-term memory. The officer consciously discriminates, selects, and attends to sensations that are most dangerous, while reducing attention to less dangerous information. The officer considers the magnitude of the force situation and the probability of harm occurring if he or she takes no protective or enforcement action. What researchers know with confidence is that officers consider citizen behavior most important when making decisions to use force. A need to use force triggers cognitive events that help the officer develop a best plan of action. If the officer fails to pay attention to important sensory input, his or her plan of action will be less than optimal.

The limbic system is associated with making a decision to act in response to situational demands. It surrounds the upper brainstem and consists of interconnected neural structures, which include the amygdala and the hippocampus. The amygdala helps regulate emotion, and it contributes to the officer's drive to act. The hippocampus is responsible for memory storage. It gives the officer access to experience when making a decision to act.

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