Situational Decision-Making: Training to Meet the Cognitive Challenges of Policing Safely and Effectively

High-profile incidents of police violence, such as the killing of George Floyd, have reignited the national conversation around how police interact with the public. Much of today’s conversation focuses on what happens after tragic events occur—how the event is adjudicated and whether officers are held sufficiently accountable. These conversations often leave out one of the most important institutions for improving policing outcomes: training for police officers, which has the potential to prevent tragedies before they occur. In this lecture, Roseanna Ander and Oeindrila Dube will present findings from the evaluation of a new behavioral science–informed police training conducted with the Chicago Police Department. The Situational Decision-Making Training (Sit-D) gives officers new cognitive tools for navigating high-stakes situations in which they may be making life-and-death decisions. Ander and Dube will discuss results that provide insight into how training officers in cognitive techniques can help transform police interactions with the public.

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