This study examines whether personality can predict outcomes in use-of-force decisions by law enforcement officers.
The current study examining the impact of select psychological, cognitive, professional experience and social network factors on police officers’ decisions to use force found that personality traits were largely unrelated to use-of-force decisions and that the social network of police officers also impacts the decision-making process. Additionally, the study examined the impact of a brief citizen education intervention on citizens’ attitudes toward police and use of force and found that educational opportunities for citizens to experience the complexities and challenges of use-of-force decision making can positively impact their attitudes toward the police. The analyses in the current study are based on a sample of 64 law enforcement officers and 101 civilians. Participants completed a series of questionnaires and completed three training scenarios inside a firearms training simulator. Despite the civilians in the study having highly favorable opinions of the police at baseline, their appreciation of the difficulties, stressfulness, and dangerousness of police work grew even higher following the simulator training. In terms of their views on use of force, after the simulator training civilians generally felt that higher levels of force were appropriate across a variety of circumstances–but not every circumstance. The differences in how police responded to the training scenarios compared to civilians suggest that when it comes to use-of-force decisions, officer training matters. However, an officer’s past history of citizen complaints and/or confirmed acts of misconduct are also important predictors of using force.