Novice Officers Research Articles

Assessment of the Neurological Activation in Law Enforcement under High Threat Situations: A Fuzzy Logic Approach

This paper discusses a law enforcement officer (LEO) study that involved expert and novice police deputies from a small-sized city located in the Southern U.S. A virtual reality range was utilized to simulate high threat scenarios that require split second decisions on the use of deadly force. A fuzzy-logic based controller was constructed to analyze electroencephalogram (EEG) data collected from the participants. The fuzzy controller made use of several functions associated with the different regions of the brain to correlate Brodmann areas to multiple outputs. Electromagnetic Tomography (i.e. LORETA) was used to identify where the signals from the surface electrodes originated within the brain through a process called source localization. Once the sources of the EEG signals were located, they were associated with corresponding Brodmann areas. The fuzzy controller then provided insights on the subjects’ exhibited neural activation behavior indicative of vision, memory, shape/distance, hearing/sound, and theory of mind. Comparing and contrasting experienced and novice officers allowed for a greater understanding of the neurological processes present in police deputies when dealing with high threat situations.

Towards a better understanding of police experience: An assessment of the unique shifts, crime areas, and duty assignments that officers have worked

Using the survey data from 791 officers in a large western police department in the United States, the current study assesses how officers’ unique work experiences (i.e., shifts, crime areas, and duty assignments) vary and culminate throughout a career in policing. Findings provide a glimpse into the early socialization and work experiences of novice officers and how experiences manifest across officers as they gain years on the job. The results also show that there is particularly high variation in the career work experiences amongst the most tenured officers, which calls into question the validity of using only length of service to measure officer experience. This study closes by discussing the implications that these findings have for future research and practice.

Использование современных образовательных технологий в процессе формирования компетенции боевого слаживания у будущих офицеров

В современных условиях, когда Россия столкнулась с комплексом вызовов, возрастает необходимость в усилении ее обороноспособности, построении новой армии, что требует серьезной реформы военного образования, подготовки будущих офицеров к боевому слаживанию, применения современных образовательных технологий. Цель исследования состоит в том, чтобы обосновать использование современных образовательных технологий в процессе формирования компетенции боевого слаживания у будущих офицеров. Гипотеза нашего исследования формулируется в предположении, что уровень компетенции боевого слаживания у будущих офицеров повысится, если в процессе подготовки применять компьютерные, тренинговые, диалоговые технологии, а также те, которые воссоздают условия современного общевойскового боя. На основе применения методологических подходов к исследованию (системный, компетентностный, опытно-экспериментальный), анализа работ по подготовке будущих офицеров были определены понятия «боевое слаживание», «компетенция будущего офицера боевого слаживания». На основе анализа понятий «технология», «образовательная технология», тенденций модернизации Вооруженных сил Российской Федерации обосновано использование современных образовательных технологий для эффективного формирования компетенции боевого слаживания у будущих офицеров. Применение описанных в статье технологий в процессе подготовки будущих офицеров к боевому слаживанию показало их эффективность. Это было подтверждено результатами обучающего эксперимента, который проходил в 2019/2020 учебном году в Рязанском гвардейском высшем воздушно-десантном ордена Суворова дважды Краснознаменном командном училище имени генерала армии В. Ф. Маргелова. Nowadays, when Russia is facing a whole number of challenges, it is especially important to strengthen its defence capacity, to introduce military innovations and army reforms, which requires profound military education reforms associated with the development of unit cohesion skills in novice officers on the basis of modern information technologies. The aim of the research is to substantiate the use of modern education technologies in the development of unit cohesion skills in novice officers. The hypothesis of the research consists in the supposition that the use of computer-mediated and dialogue-based training solutions enhances novice officers’ unit cohesion skills. The article uses a number of methodological approaches to investigate the issue (systemic approach, competence approach, experimental approach), it analyzes the process of novice officers’ training and defines such notions as unit cohesion and novice officers’ unit cohesion skills. The analysis of such notions as technology and education technology and the examination of modernization tendencies associated with the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation enable the authors to employ modern education technologies to efficiently develop unit cohesion skills in novice officers. The article underlines the efficiency of the described technologies aimed at the development of unit cohesion skills in novice officers, which is proved by the results of an experiment conducted in the 2019/2020 academic year at the General V. F. Margelov Ryazan Guards Higher Airborne twice Red Banner Order of Suvorov Command School.

Emotional Reactivity and Police Expertise in Use-of-Force Decision-Making

Given the vast amount of evidence showing the substantial influence of emotion on decision-making, we examined emotionality—a person’s emotional reactivity to a stimulus—in police use-of-force decision-making between a sample of expert (n = 42) and novice (n = 36) officers. Officers observed body-worn camera footage and described the course of action they would take, the kinds of information they paid attention to, and their assessment of the situation. Natural language processing techniques were used to detect measures of valence, arousal, and dominance from officer responses. Linear mixed-effects models indicated that responses from experts were more positively valenced, more dominant, and less arousing compared with responses from novices. In other words, the ability to react and assess situations calmly, with a greater sense of control, and less negatively seems to be linked with the production of accurate, effective, and efficient behaviors that mark expert policing. These results shed light on the ways in which expert and novice officers understand and experience stimuli involved in use-of-force decision-making. Practical implications for use-of-force training and future directions are discussed.

The professional experiences and training needs of probation officers in Turkey

Summary The current study uses a series of focus groups and participatory methodology to investigate the work experiences and needs of Turkish probation officers and their directors. All participants were employed at an office of Parole and Probation in Istanbul, Turkey. During the concurrent focus groups, officers ( n = 57) discussed their daily work experiences and needs (Phase I). A follow-up focus group was conducted ( n = 25) to discuss potential interpretations of the themes and generate solutions (Phase II), followed by a mini-focus group with the directors ( n = 5) to explore their experiences with the probation system and officer training (Phase III). Findings Officers identified needs for training, improvements of the work environment, professional support, and more thorough risk assessment tools. The follow-up focus group revealed that officers were highly motivated to improve their rehabilitative skills but felt constrained in supervising offenders in the punitive justice system. Several solutions generated through focus groups included mentoring programs to support novice officers, training programs to acquire interviewing skills, and team building activities and events to increase morale. Application The current study bridges the gap between officers and directors in the probation system and generates solutions to the occupational needs of officers. Researchers communicated those needs to the directors, and the study initiated action toward implementing rehabilitative training programs for officers with a particular focus on risk assessment and basic clinical skills. The study has direct implications for the improvement of probation practice and supervision in Turkey.

Credit Spread Determinants? Yes, Loan Officer Seniority Matters!

This paper investigates whether loan officer's level of seniority within the bank explains credit spreads. Based on a unique hand-collected database on loan applications from SMEs to a French cooperative bank between 1996 and 2009, the study suggests that senior loan officers charge higher interest rates than novice officers when -1- the bank-firm relationship is stronger and -2- the business climate is less favorable. The first result supports the idea that seniority of loan officers is a factor that fosters the hold-up problem while the second result shows that senior loan officers integrate the business climate into their pricing strategy to a greater extent than novice officers.

Examining police officers' response bias in judging veracity.

Deception detection research has shown that, in judging veracity, police officers are less truth biased than non-officers. However, previous researchers have normally used videotaped statements where an unknown (but presumably large) number of stereotypical or real deception cues are displayed by the senders. We examined non-officers, novice officers, and experienced officers’ response tendencies in a more controlled situation where cue availability was severely restricted. We used written vignettes describing either police-related or police-unrelated scenarios where the protagonist denied having committed a misdeed. Each vignette contained only two pieces of relevant information, one suggesting that the protagonist was lying and one suggesting that she or he was telling the truth. Officers made fewer truth judgments than non-officers in judging police-relevant vignettes, but not in judging police-irrelevant vignettes. Both novice and experienced officers had greater judgmental confidence than non-officers. The findings are consistent with the Adaptive Lie Detection Theory (ALIED). Future research should continue to explore how the police relevance of the situation or task at hand influences novice and experienced officers’ veracity judgments.

Experienced and novice officers' generalized communication suspicion and veracity judgments.

Deception detection research has shown that police officers are less truth-biased and make their veracity judgments with greater confidence than do nonofficers. Here we examined nonofficers, novice officers, and experienced officers' response bias, confidence, and generalized communicative suspicion. In Experiment 1, novice officers aligned with nonofficers in terms of both generalized communicative suspicion scores and confidence, with both these groups scoring lower than experienced officers. Generalized communicative suspicion scores and veracity judgments were not significantly related for either sample. However, novice officers aligned with experienced officers in terms of judgments: both police groups were lie-biased, whereas nonofficers were truth-biased. These findings suggest that unlike experienced officers, who have embraced the police culture to a greater degree, novice officers are not dispositionally suspicious (generalized communicative suspicion); however, they are able to mirror the prototypical police behavior (deception judgments) in police-related contexts. Experiment 2 supported these notions.

Leader Creativity as a Predictor of Leading Change in Organizations1

This investigation examined leader creativity, broadly conceptualized as a confluence of personal attributes, as a predictor of leading change in organizations. Because organizational change occurs primarily in the social system in support of the technical system, the role of social‐emotional competency was also examined. Two correlational studies were conducted in samples of U.S. Army officers. As predicted, leader creativity was a significant predictor of leading change. Creativity measures explained 42% of the variance in leading change performance measures in novice officers and 71% of the variance in early‐ to mid‐career officers. Social‐emotional competency was also a significant predictor of leading change, but less than creativity.“The art of the creative leader is the art of institution‐building, the reworking of human and technological materials to fashion an organization that embodies new and enduring values” (Selznick, 1957, pp. 152–153).

Public’s and Police Officers’ Interpretation and Handling of Domestic Violence Cases

The public's and police officers'interpretation and handling of realistic hypothetical domestic violence cases and their stereotypic views about domestic violence are discussed. A sample of 131 experienced officers, 127 novice officers, and 157 adult laypersons were randomly assigned to read a domestic violence case. Experienced officers were more likely to arrest only the husband than were laypersons or rookie officers even when respondents inferred that the husband was primarily responsible or had used violence before. Experienced officers considered their stereotypic beliefs about battered women's propensity to use self-defense in arriving at their arrest decision whereas laypersons and rookie officers did not. These findings indicate that the public and police officers have not adopted the feminists' message that arrest is the best response to handle all domestic violence cases. Policy implications are discussed.

American police and subcultural support for the use of excessive force

This article examines police officers' perceptions and tolerance of abuse of force. Data were collected from 3,230 sworn personnel in thirty American departments. Officers rated the seriousness of an excessive force violation, their support for discipline, and their willingness to report such misconduct. Novice officers, highly experienced veterans, and supervisory personnel were more likely than officers with moderate levels of experience to view excessive force as serious and worthy of more severe discipline. Officers in these groups also indicated greater willingness to report such incidents.

Dual Arrest Decisions in Domestic Violence Cases: The Influence of Departmental Policies

Dual arrests in family violence cases have increased following passage of proarrest laws. This study examined the relationship between officers’perceptions of their departmental policies and arrest outcomes. Each officer was given 1 of 6 hypothetical scripts that varied as to whether the wife only was injured or the wife and husband were injured. They were then asked what action they would take. Results indicate that officers who believed that their department would support arrest of both parties are more likely to arrest both parties. Officers who perceived that their department encouraged arrest of the primary aggressor only are more likely to arrest the husband only. When both parties were injured, officers were likely to arrest both. Experienced officers were more likely than novice officers to use dual arrest. Implications for the importance of primary aggressor language are discussed.

Cognitive Integration: A Study of how Decision Makers Construct Understanding in Evolving Contexts

Technology provides military decision makers with more data than they can possibly use. Commanders and staffs must sort through and combine relevant data to develop understanding. This process, which we call cognitive integration, was investigated in a tactical simulation using 21 experienced active duty Army officers (former battalion commanders) and 21 novice officers (no battalion command experience) as participants. Quantitative and qualitative data yielded significant differences between the experienced and novice groups. In addition, data analysis led to the development of several important design principles that will be used to build a decision aid prototype to assist commanders in integrating data.