Sound Situational Awareness Plays A Vital Role In Law Enforcement

BY KEVIN CALDER, PRESIDENT, K CALDER & ASSOCIATES

Reprinted from the Virginia Center for Policing Innovation

IN TODAY’S COMPLICATED WORLD, it is critical that public-safety professionals recognize that a wide range of factors impact how they handle both mundane and critical situations in the field. Recognition of the risk of violence and situational awareness allow officers to choose appropriate strategies that enhance their safety, as well as that of co-workers, protectees, and the public. Usually in law enforcement when we hear the term “situational awareness” we often think of the concept within a tactical application or context. However, having sound situational awareness is vital in every law-enforcement role. Situational awareness is the ongoing recognition of internal and external factors and influences that form the foundation of an officer’s decision making. It is a comprehensive thought process that ultimately leads to effective decisions resulting in minimized risk and liability.

As a Deputy Sheriff, I was regularly challenged to articulate and in some cases defend my tactical and operational decisions. As a young officer, I would focus on the external information available to me: individuals involved, factors related to the scene and environment, and my goals and objectives. As my operational experience grew, I realized that my decisions were increasingly influenced by personal and organizational influences. By practicing situational awareness I believe officers can enhance safety, make more defensible decisions, and in the long run reduce personal and organizational liability. Take the following scenario, for example.

One cold blustery morning in December, my partner and I were dispatched at 4:00 a.m. to a maximum-security institution to transport a prisoner to court. The normally one-hour drive from our local courthouse, took over three hours due to a heavy snowstorm that dropped over 9 inches of snow. Many roads were impassable but our supervisor was adamant that we make our way there. The potential for violence was always high when picking up prisoners from this prison but the potential was escalated on this day as the prisoner was refusing to leave his cell and attend court. A cell extraction team had to be called to bring the prisoner to us in the admissions and discharge area.

As we waited, I mentally ran through the variety of scenarios that might play out. A combination of situational awareness and training would form the basis for my subsequent decision making. My situational awareness was not limited to tactical issues or just to the prisoner and task at hand. On that snowy morning, I ran through the four facets of an officer’s situational awareness: informational, environmental, personal, and organizational.

Informational factors available to me included the name of the prisoner, his history of violence, physical description, and reason for not wanting to attend court. In this case, he claimed he was concerned with being transported in the snowstorm. He had a history of institutional violence, and was very muscular and fit.

Environmental factors included working in a controlled environment with additional back up, a small area in which to conduct the required prisoner search, the physical layout of the admissions and discharge area, and the lack of proximity to other prisoners.

Personal factors that I considered included my previous experience dealing with violent prisoners, my concern that I may be injured during an altercation, my personal expectations related to managing the situation effectively, and my fatigue from the three-hour drive through the snowstorm.

Organizational factors included the expectations of the department to meet my operational objective of maintaining safe and secure custody of the prisoner and transporting him to court, the effectiveness of current procedures for dealing with violent prisoners, the level of support from my peers as well as the correctional staff with whom I had not previously worked, and the chance of a formal complaint from the prisoner along with the accompanying stress related to such an investigation.

Thirty minutes after we arrived, the prisoner was brought down in restraints to the admissions and discharge area. He had been extracted forcibly from his cell and was extremely angry and non-compliant with our instructions. In hope of avoiding violence, we articulated the legal requirements for attending court and followed with a cooling-off period. We were able to achieve our goal of searching, securing, and transporting the prisoner to court without incident. This is just one example demonstrating the “background noise” that public-safety professionals encounter on a daily basis. Situational awareness provides a platform to recognize and adapt an approach to not only what law enforcement “sees” but also what other factors are playing out in the background, allowing for informed decision making with minimal risk and liability, leading to a positive outcome. Have you encountered a scenario where improved situational awareness would have changed the outcome?

In your role as an officer, supervisor or command staff, do you see a benefit to situational awareness training? Please contact VCPI’s Training Manager, Sheila Gunderman at sgunderman@vcpionline.org to schedule Rapid Kevin Calder is one of North America’s most knowledgeable and well-respected workplace violence prevention and threat management specialists. His practical approach to violence prevention, conflict resolution and threat assessment is founded on 20 years of comprehensive experience in law enforcement, security management, and performance-based training.

Kevin was a founding member of the British Columbia Sheriff Services Integrated Threat Assessment Unit. In his position as lead threat analyst, he was responsible for assessing violence risk and developing violence prevention strategies to mitigate threats posed from a variety of sources. He also played a key role in the development of the Threat Management Centre of Excellence at the Justice Institute of British Columbia.

Kevin holds an Associate Certificate in Leadership and Conflict Resolution from the Justice Institute of British Columbia and is Board Certified in security management from ASIS. He has trained law enforcement, public and private sector managers and investigators, safety and security professionals, victim service workers and others involved in violence risk reduction. Kevin currently serves as President of the North West chapter of the Association of Threat Assessment Professionals.