Fear of scrutiny leads to hesitation during challenging encounters

Abstract

Regardless of your opinion on the current state of law enforcement or the job you think we are doing, it may not be surprising to hear me say, “I knew it would happen; it was only a matter of time.” Knew what would happen, you might ask? In a word, second‐guessing. Street‐level hesitation that is rooted in fear. Not fear of what the armed assailant the officer is facing may do or if the individual suffering from an emotional crisis may charge while holding the knife instead of complying with orders to drop it, but rather, fear of what the incident may “look like” after the fact. I was hoping that I would be wrong when I discussed it with my colleagues, but recent events in Chicago proved that, unfortunately, my prediction was correct.