The principal aim of this study is to explore the relations between work domains and the work-related learning of workers. The article is intended to provide insight into the learning experiences of Dutch police officers during the course of their daily work. Interviews regarding actual learning events and subsequent changes in knowledge, skills or attitudes were conducted with police officers from different parts of the country and in different stages of their careers. Interpretative analyses grounded in the notion of intentionality and developmental relatedness revealed how and in what kinds of work domains police officers appear to learn. HOMALS analysis showed work-related learning activities to vary with different kinds of work domains. The implications for training and development involve the role of colleagues in different hierarchical positions for learning and they also concern the utility of the conceptualisation of work-related learning presented here.
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In this study, we investigated the effects of wearing a police uniform and gear on officers’ performance during the Physical Competence Test (PCT) of the Dutch National Police. In a counterbalanced within-subjects design, twenty-seven police officers performed the PCT twice, once wearing sportswear and once wearing a police uniform. The results showed clear indications that wearing a police uniform influenced the performance on the PCT. Participants were on average 14 seconds slower in a police uniform than in sportswear. Furthermore, performing the test in uniform was accompanied by higher RPE-scores and total physiological load. It seems that wearing a police uniform during the test diminishes the discrepancy between physical fitness needed to pass the simulated police tasks in the PCT and the job-specific physical fitness that is required during daily police work. This suggests that wearing a police uniform during the test will increase the representativeness of the testing environment for the work field.
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This paper proposes and showcases a methodology to develop an observational behavior assessment instrument to assess psychological competencies of police officers. We outline a step-by-step methodology for police organizations to measure and evaluate behavior in a meaningful way to assess these competencies. We illustrate the proposed methodology with a practical example. We posit that direct behavioral observation can be key in measuring the expression of psychological competence in practice, and that psychological competence in practice is what police organizations should care about. We hope this paper offers police organizations a methodology to perform scientifically informed observational behavior assessment of their police officers’ psychological competencies and inspires additional research efforts into this important area.
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On duty, police officers are exposed to a variety of acute, threatening stress situations and organizational demands. In line with the allostatic load model, the resulting acute and chronic stress might have tremendous consequences for police officers’ work performance and psychological and physical health. To date, limited research has been conducted into the underlying biological, dynamic mechanisms of stress in police service. Therefore, this ecological momentary assessment study examined the associations of stress, mood and biological stress markers of a 28-year-old male police officer in a N-of-1 study over three weeks (90 data points). Four times a day (directly after waking up, 30 minutes later, 6 hours later, before going to bed), he answered questions about the perceived stress and mood using a smartphone application. With each data entry, he collected saliva samples for the later assessment of salivary cortisol (sCort) and alpha-amylase (sAA). In addition, data was collected after six police incidents during duty. sCort and sAA were not related to perceived stress in daily life and did not increase in police incidents. Regarding mood measures, deterioration of calmness, but not valence and energy was associated with perceived stress. The results suggest continued police service to constitute a major chronic stressor resulting in an inability to mount a proper response to further acute stress. As an indicator of allostatic load, psychological and biological hyporesponsivity in moments of stress may have negative consequences for police officers’ health and behavior in critical situations that require optimal performance. Prospectively, this research design may also become relevant when evaluating the efficacy of individualized stress management interventions in police training.
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Purpose: We investigated the effects of threat and trait anxiety on state anxiety and how that affects police officers’ actions during an arrest. Most experiments on police performance under anxiety test the performance of one particular skill. Yet, police work often involves concerted use of a combination of skills. Methods: We created situations – with two different levels of threat – in which officers had to choose and initiate their actions to control and arrest a non-cooperative suspect. We examined whether threat, trait anxiety and state anxiety influenced decision-making (e.g., choosing the appropriate actions) and performance (e.g., quality of communication and the execution of skills). Results: Trait anxiety affected the level of state anxiety, but not any of the decision-making and performance variables. As for decision-making, results showed that only threat determined which action officers took to gain control over the suspect. As for performance, higher levels of state anxiety were accompanied by lower scores of overall performance, communication, proportionality of applied force and quality of skill execution. Conclusion: It is concluded that state anxiety not only impairs performance of single perceptual-motor tasks, but also relevant accompanying skills such as communicating and applying appropriate force. We argue that police training should focus on an integrated set of decision-making and perceptual-motor skills and not just on the performance of isolated motor skills.
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Purpose: Law enforcement may require police officers to inhibit intuitive responses to high threat and thereby affect their emotional reaction and operational effectiveness. Upon this premise, the current study reports two experiments which compare the impact of two relevant shot execution strategies on police officers’ shooting performance under high threat, including (1) fire at an armed assailant and then step away from the assailant's line of fire (‘fire-step’) or (2) step away from the assailant's line of fire and then fire (‘step-fire’). Method: In Experiment 1, 15 experienced police officers performed both shot execution strategies against a stationary assailant who occasionally shot back with coloured soap cartridges (high threat), while we measured their state anxiety, movement times and shot accuracy. In Experiment 2, the same 15 officers remained stationary and fired at the assailant who now performed both shot execution strategies in random order, thereby providing an indication of the risk (i.e., chance to get hit) associated with performing either strategy. Results: Experiment 1 showed that officers preferred using the step-fire strategy and that using this strategy resulted in lower levels of anxiety, increased time for aiming and more accurate shooting than the fire-step strategy. Experiment 2, however, indicated that the step-fire strategy also increases one's chance of getting hit. Conclusions: Findings suggest that inhibition of preferred responses under high threat (as in the fire-step strategy) may increase state anxiety and negatively affect shooting performance in police officers. Future work is needed to reveal underlying mechanisms and explore implications for practice.
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The dark web is creating difficulties for traditional policing. Previous studies have focused on users, but very little is known about law enforcement dealing with the core challenge of Anonymity Communication Networks: absent and anonymous suspects whose locations and identities are effectively hidden behind encryption. Based on 14 interviews with Dutch police officers and public prosecutors, enriched with a media analysis of 45 Dutch newspaper articles, we come to a model of Dutch law enforcement dealing with Tor cases. We observe that the police are adapting to the new reality of Tor use. However, they still work within their set framework which does not always match the needs for policing Tor cases. We additionally note a more prominent place for the strategy of disruption which may create the need for additional legal grounds.
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Purpose: Facing the COVID-19 pandemic, police officers are confronted with various novel challenges, which might place additional strain on officers. This mixed-method study investigated officers' strain over a three-month-period after the lockdown. Methods: In an online survey, 2567 police officers (77% male) from Austria, Germany, Switzerland, the Netherlands, and Spain participated at three measurement points per country in spring, 2020. Three-level growth curve models assessed changes in strain and its relation to stressor appraisal, emotion regulation, and preparedness through training. To add context to the findings, free response answers about officers' main tasks, stressors, and crisis measures were coded inductively. Results: On average, officers seemed to tolerate the pandemic with slight decreases in strain over time. Despite substantial variance between countries, 66% of the variance occurred between individuals. Sex, work experience, stressor appraisal, emotion regulation, and preparedness significantly predicted strain. Risk of infection and deficient communication emerged as main stressors. Officers' reports allowed to derive implications for governmental, organizational, and individual coping strategies during pandemics. Conclusion: Preparing for a pandemic requires three primary paths: 1) enacting unambiguous laws and increasing public compliance through media communication, 2) being logistically prepared, and 3) improving stress regulation skills in police training.
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De wijkagent wordt nogal eens gezien als het visitekaartje van de politie naar de burger. De wijkagent beweegt zich tussen de burgers, tussen een groot aantal partners in de wijk en heeft intern te maken met verschillende afdelingen als de recherche en de surveillancedienst. Met al deze partijen wil hij verbinding maken én behouden. In dit onderzoek wordt de wijkagent in het Haagse stadsdeel Laak gevolgd in zijn dagelijkse werkpraktijk. De wijkagent probeert de verbindende factor te zijn als het gaat om veiligheid in de wijk. Iets wat niet altijd lukt. De wijkagent kán ook niet alle burgers bereiken. Veel andere maatschappelijke organisaties leunen op de politie, omdat zij niet met 24 uursdiensten werken en minder doorzettingsmacht hebben. Dit leidt tot grote ergernis van de wijkagent. Intern is de recherche een belangrijke partner, maar door de verschillende culturen en andere agenda's is deze samenwerking niet zo sterk als die zou kunnen zijn. 'Verbinden' als doelstelling bij het werk van de wijkagent is gemakkelijker gezegd dan gedaan. Bij de Nationale Politie is er voor de wijkagent een belangrijke rol weggelegd. Het vergt nog de nodige aandachtom deze ambitie waar te maken. ABSTRACT The community police officer is often seen as the 'business card' of the police to citizens. The community police officer operates amongst citizens, between a large number of local partners and deals within the police organisation with many different departments such as criminal investigation and surveillance. The goal is to create and maintain bonds with al different stakeholders. In this research, community police officers in the district 'Laak' in The Hague are followed during their daily routine. The community police officer tries to act as the bonding figure in relation to safety in the local community. A goal that is not always achieved. It is not possible for community police officers to reach all citizens. Many other community organisations lean on the police as they do not work in 24-hour shifts and have less vigour. This leads to much frustration amongst community police officers. Within the organisation the department of criminal investigation is an important partner but due to cultural differences and diverging agendas, co-operation is not as strong as it could be. 'Bonding' as the goal of community police officers is easier said than done. The community police officer has an important role within the National Police. It will take more attention to fulfil this ambition.
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Abstract Chapter 4: Basing ourselves on a literature review and expert interviews we create an overview of methods and tools to identify and respond to ethical questions used in healthcare, social work, police and the military. We identify six main types of methods or tools that can support professionals or organisations in dealing with ethical issues. Some of these methods are already used in CT or could be used. Some methods or tools are targeted at individual professionals or small groups, whilst others are targeted at the organisational level. The methods and tools are described in brief. Samenvatting boek: Wat is ethisch wel en wat niet geoorloofd? De aanslagen die de Europese hoofdsteden teisteren wrijven het ons in: terrorismebestrijding is noodzakelijk en is onlosmakelijk verbonden met de moderne samenleving. De inlichtingendiensten en andere organisaties die zich hiermee bezighouden, stuiten echter telkens op de vraag hoe ver zij mogen gaan. Waar liggen de grenzen? Wat is ethisch wel en wat niet geoorloofd? En vooral: hoe gaan professionals met deze soms levensgrote dilemma's om? In deze Engelstalige uitgave reflecteren wetenschappers, terrorismebestrijders en ethici op dit zeer actuele thema.
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