Situational Factors Play A Big Role In Police Decision Making

Secondly, we will talk about police encounters with citizens under situational factors. Every encounter for police officer is different with a citizen. These encounters can happen behind closed doors like, a warrant being served to a private residence. Or these encounters can happen right in the public full of bystanders with phones and cameras to record what goes on. Situational factors are divided into five different categories: scene and suspects, relationships between parties, offense seriousness, location, and bystanders. Depending on the scene and its suspects, if a policeman arrives at the scene with his or her initiative or a result of a call. The first factor is determining how the officer will react in a situation. This is the most
Neighborhoods and situational factors play a big role in police decision making. What about the police officers themselves? How do different characteristics impact their own police making decision? Usually, an officer who is educated will act differently than an officer who has just required a high school diploma. Age can also play a factor in decision making for police officers. Younger police officers are commonly more aggressive and probably have a harder work ethic than older officers. However, an older officer may be more seasoned or more experienced than a younger officer who would be more efficient and the quality of their job would be higher. Gender is the next thing that we will follow up on. Women, in general, tend to act less aggressive than their counterparts in law enforcement. Women and men have different viewpoints on police decision making. An officer’s ambition most definitely affects his or her decision making. Ambition can motivate an officer so he or she can receive a promotion or make more money. Attitudes toward the job also reflect on a police officer’s decision. Officers who commute with community policing is more than likely to reflect on their arrest pattern. If you are stressed or have a bad attitude while on the job, it can affect the way you make decisions. Depending on the neighborhood you patrol in, stress on the police officer can be extremely high. In the article Shift Work and Occupational Stress in Police Officers, “The workload was considered high in an area that had many complaints and a high crime rate; it was moderate if there was a moderate number of complaints and an average crime rate; and it was low if the district was not busy and had a low crime