is the techniques and tools officers have at their fingertips, said Graves.“ I was on SWAT as a young man in 1992 and we would constantly be called out,” he said.“ Fast forward 25 years and our SWAT team isn’ t called out nearly as much. It’ s not that crime has decreased, but the average officer has better training on how to approach a situation when years earlier they would’ ve called SWAT.
“ When I first started, all I had was a revolver, a can of Mace, and a baton,” said Graves.“ Now officers have Tasers, bean-bag launchers, pepper spray— there’ s so much more equipment available for cops to protect themselves and to stop incidents before they escalate.” Along with many of those tools come ongoing training and often required re-certifications.
Technology has given officers more tools than ever, but could all of this actually be detrimental to officer safety? Are officers overwhelmed by which tool or tactic they should apply while dealing with all the additional societal demands thrust upon them? Are Officers Expected to Do Too Much?“ When I first started, cops weren’ t dealing with nearly as much in terms of addressing societal problems,” said Graves.“ But now, we’ re asking so much and giving them so much training that they’ re becoming overwhelmed.” Rendering medical aid is a great example of this. Around the country officers are equipped with Narcan, a drug that reverses drug overdose.“ People think this is a great solution because cops get there the quickest so they should administer Narcan and try to save these people,” said Graves.“ The problem is that the places where people are overdosing often pose an officer safety problem.”
Graves has seen this danger first hand. In one situation, he arrived at a house where a young officer was administering CPR to a man who had overdosed. However, in doing so, he’ d forgotten to clear the scene. It turned out later that there were several dangerous people nearby.
Agencies need to recognize that all these new responsibilities, new policies, new training, and new tools are overwhelming officers and hindering their ability to respond effectively, said Dave Blake, who spent 16 years in law enforcement before retiring from the Livermore PD in California. After retiring, he earned a master’ s degree in psychology and started his own police practices consulting and training business focusing on use-of-force and the science of human performance.
“ Officers are suffering from cognitive overload because they need to know all these policies and procedures and understand their practical application. They also need to develop new skillsets to use all this equipment correctly,” he said.
IN SEARCH OF A SOLUTION
With more and more responsibilities to handle, being a police officer today is more stressful than it’ s ever been. Add in the high levels of pressure that come with the job and it’ s no wonder officers feel overwhelmed and make poor split-second decisions.
Blake thinks officers need to do more training in highstress situations.“ Situations do not often go as well as they do in training. If officers conduct training in an environment that is more in line with real-world events, they will be more successful,” he said.“ Officers need to learn how to deescalate their own stress and allow themselves more time to observe and react.”
He also advocates initiating training programs that return to fundamentals.“ With all this new training and equipment initiatives, basic officer skillsets keep getting reduced,” he said. Reality-based or simulated training with an emphasis on real-life scenarios and practical exercises could go a long way toward instilling confidence and decision-making skills in officers today. Law enforcement managers should determine what equipment and tactics are most appropriate for their individual agencies, and then focus training on those. ■
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WINTER 2016 | California Police Chief 13