Experience essential for detecting threats

Facing potentially hostile situations on a daily basis, means the sooner police officers can identify and react to a threat, the better the chances of protecting the public.

Now, a new psychological study by the University of Chester reveals that experienced officers with Cheshire Constabulary are effectively trained to rapidly detect and respond to volatile situations in the blink of an eye.

The research, led by Dr Libby Damjanovic from the University’s Psychology Department, showed that experienced officers can hone in on aggressive cues with split-second precision, and that they can maintain this high level of performance under a range of difficult viewing conditions.

The project used a ground breaking experiment developed in collaboration with Dr Amy Pinkham from The Southern Methodist University in the US to test experienced officers, trainees and a group without any experience in policing, to see how quickly they could detect the hostile intentions in a crowd of people - a skill that is integral to the safeguarding of the public during any protest activity.

Dr Damjanovic used the ‘face in the crowd’ method - where subjects are shown a rapid succession of faces and are asked to identify those, which display threat - to test the reactions of the various groups and found that officers with the most experience returned the best results. She said: “The level of commitment to the policing service and the experiences that the officers gain from delivering a front line service cannot be underestimated.

“The results show ed that experienced officers can hone in on aggressive cues with split-second precision, and that they can maintain this high level of performance under a range of difficult viewing conditions.

“This level of precision is achieved by keeping their emotions in check – especially in the face of hostile encounters. “Experience matters. It matters because it is through extensive experience that officers develop a cool, calm and collected approach to the task at hand allowing them to focus their efforts in keeping the public safe by monitoring the environment for dangers.”

Commenting on the report published in The Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, Sergeant Craig Sephton, responsible for Public Order Training within Cheshire Constabulary, said: “Thank fully, public disorder is a rare occurrence in Cheshire, although our officers’ services are often sought by other Forces. “However, policing at times does require the officer to be able to make split second decisions.

“This study has proven that with appropriate training and experiences, and whilst taking into account other significant factors, that our officers are well served to continue to protect the public in a range of potential conflict management situations, which could be presented by a modern society. “We were delighted to work with the University of Chester and assist in this research.”