know with confidence is that officers consider citizen
behavior most important when making decisions to
use force. A need to use force triggers cognitive events
that help the officer develop a best plan of action. If
the officer fails to pay attention to important sensory input,
his or her plan of action will be less than optimal.
The limbic system is associated with making a
decision to act in response to situational demands. It
surrounds the upper brainstem and consists of inter-
connected neural structures, which include the amyg-
dala and the hippocampus. The amygdala helps
regulate emotion, and it contributes to the officer’s
drive to act. The hippocampus is responsible for mem-
ory storage. It gives the officer access to experience
when making a decision to act.Developing a Plan of Action.Once the officer makes
a decision to act, he or she begins developing a plan of
action. The officer accesses long-term memory and
matches the sensory input with a response that best
fits the conditions of the force situation. The appropri-
ateness of the response depends on the extent to which
the officer selected important sensory stimuli, and the
officer’s response reflects endorsed training practices,
accepted legal principles, and approved police poli-
cies. In familiar force situations, responses are avail-
able. In novel situations, the officer might search his
or her experience for possible responses or use a past
strategy.
Developing a plan of action begins in the brain’s
association cortex areas, which integrate sensory
input. They carry out the processes that take place
between sensation and action, which include perceiv-
ing, learning, remembering, and planning. Neural
structures of the projection system—basal ganglia,
cerebellum, and motor cortex—relay details of the
officer’s plan to the spinal system.Initiating Action.The spinal system is responsible for
initiating the plan of action. It sends motor neurons
that carry details of the plan of action out to various
muscle groups that will perform the action of force. It
serves as the final pathway that links the central ner-
vous system with the skeletal muscular system.Stress Effects
Stress is a state of psychological tension. It is a reaction
or effect caused by unfavorable physical, psychological,or social forces, such as in a force situation. The force
situation acts as an alarm signal that triggers the stress
response. The officer’s sympathetic nervous system
becomes abnormally active. It starts autonomic and
endocrine responses that prepare the officer’s body for
a fight or flight. Hormonal discharges, such as the
secretion of corticotrophin-releasing factor, adrenocor-
ticotropic hormone, cortisol, epinephrine, and norepi-
nephrine, energize the officer’s body. The stress
response helps the officer perform at his or her best in
the force situation. However, exposure to the force sit-
uation can lead to an increase in arousal that amounts to
a peak stress condition. When in a state of peak stress,
an officer experiences unfavorable changes in his or her
memory and perception.Memory. The adrenal gland secretes cortisol.
Research shows that high cortisol levels impair
memory functions. The effect, however, is tempo-
rary. Memory functions return as cortisol levels
return to normal. The officer might find it difficult to
access long-term memory and match sensory input
with a response that best fits the demands of the
force situation.Perception. The officer’s pupils dilate to gather extra
situational information, but his or her perceptual sys-
tem narrows its field of focus. There is a loss of
peripheral vision. The officer might retreat to widen
his or her peripheral field. The officer might also over-
look important visual cues and develop a less than
optimal plan of action. Other possible perceptual dis-
tortions include auditory blunting, auditory exclusion,
and tachypsychia.
The dominant response to peak stress is hypervigi-
lance. The hypervigilant officer panics and becomes
hypersensitive to situational cues. The officer cannot
discriminate threatening from nonthreatening cues. A
lack of attention to important situational cues might
lead the officer to choose an incorrect response to the
force situation.
Optimal stress in a force situation depends on fac-
tors that are unique to the officer. Some officers per-
form better with arousal than do others. A skillful
officer who has good coping abilities can offset the
negative stress effects. Under peak stress conditions,
officers experience delays in encoding situational
information, making a decision to act, developing a
plan of action, and initiating action.594 ———Police Use of ForceP-Cutler (Encyc)-45463.qxd 11/18/2007 12:43 PM Page 594