TY  - JOUR
AB  - Purpose The purpose of this paper is to develop and describe the implementation of a novel method for creating interval-level metrics for objectively assessing police officer behaviors during an encounter with the public. These behaviors constitute officer performance and affect the probability of desirable encounter outcomes. The metrics measure concrete, micro-level performance in the common types of complex, dynamic, and low-information police-public encounters that often require immediate action using “naturalistic” decision making. Difficulty metrics also were developed to control for situational variability. The utility of measuring what officers do vs probabilistic outcomes is explored with regard to informing policymaking, field practice, and training.Design/methodology/approach Metric sets were developed separately for three types of police-public encounters: deadly force judgment and decision making, cross-cultural tactical social interaction, and crisis intervention. In each, “reverse concept mapping” was used with a different diverse focus group of “true experts” to authoritatively deconstruct implicit concepts and derive important variables. Variables then were scaled with Thurstone’s method using 198 diverse expert trainers to create interval-level metrics for performance and situational difficulty. Metric utility was explored during two experimental laboratory studies and in response to a problematic police encounter.Findings Objective, interval-level metric sets were developed for measuring micro-level police performance and encounter difficulty. Validation and further refinement are required.Research limitations/implications This novel method provides a practical way to rapidly develop metrics that measure micro-level performance during police-public encounters much more precisely than was previously possible.Originality/value The metrics developed provide a foundation for measuring officers’ performance as they exercise discretion, engage people, and affect perceptions of police legitimacy.
VL  - 41
IS  - 2
SN  - 1363-951X
DO  - 10.1108/PIJPSM-11-2016-0166
UR  - https://doi.org/10.1108/PIJPSM-11-2016-0166
AU  - Vila Bryan
AU  - James Stephen
AU  - James Lois
PY  - 2018
Y1  - 2018/01/01
TI  - How police officers perform in encounters with the public: Measuring what matters at the individual level
T2  - Policing: An International Journal
PB  - Emerald Publishing Limited
SP  - 215
EP  - 232
Y2  - 2024/04/25
ER  -