Adaptive Flexibility: Examining the Role of Expertise in the Decision Making of Authorised Firearms Officers during Armed Confrontation

Abstract

Identifying the cognitive processes underlying tactical decision making is vital for two purposes; (i) reducing risk through improved training, and (ii) facilitating the public’s attitudes toward the legitimacy of the Police and criminal justice system. Despite this, very little research has been conducted into British Police decision-making involving the use of firearms. This study begins to address this gap by examining the impact expertise has on British Police use of force decisions during armed confrontations. In order to do so, the tactical decision making processes of twelve expert Specialised Firearms Officers (SFOs) and eleven novice Authorised Firearms Officers (AFOs) during armed confrontations were compared using Cognitive Task Analysis methods. Data were coded using categories derived from theory and patterns inductively emergent within the data. The results found expert SFOs to be more flexible in adaptive responding to situational changes, whilst novice AFOs reported a more sequential and linear process of tactical decision making. In identifying the key features of expertise within this specific environment (‘adaptive flexibility’), this study has both theoretical and practical implications for the acceleration of AFO expertise acquisition in order to bridge the existing expertise gap resulting from a lack of available qualified Operational Force Commanders.