POLICE OFFICER DECISION-MAKING 1 Running head: POLICE OFFICER DECISION-MAKING Police Officer Decision-Making in Stressful, Ambiguous and Potentially Violent Situations A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Psychology (Clinical; Forensic Specialisation) at Centre for Forensic Behavioural Science, Paul Mullen Centre in association with Swinburne University of Technology Faculty of Health, Arts and Design by Innes Seric B.A. (Hons) POLICE OFFICER DECISION-MAKING 2 © Ines Seric 2016 All rights reserved. This work may not be reproduced in whole or in part, by photocopy or other means, without written permission of the author. POLICE OFFICER DECISION-MAKING 3 Abstract For the majority of us, decisions that have a ripple effect - impacting our colleagues, organisations, service consumers and the local community - are not typically made on a daily basis. However, what is for many of us an occasional event can be the daily reality of police officers. One only need recall the fatal shooting of 15-year-old Tyler Cassidy (see Coroner’s Court of Victoria, 2011) to recognise the paramount consequences that may succeed police officer decision-making. Both researchers and practitioners have long recognised the need for decision-making theory to form the basis of police officer discretion (e.g., Worden & Brandl, 1990), particularly as demands on police officers grow on the count of technological advances and increasing accountability to the courts and the community. Despite this, the policing sector continues to receive little attention by means of generating an applicable and holistic theory of decision-making. Working within a constructivist grounded theory method, this thesis explored the processes that underlie police officer decision-making. Forty-four, one-on-one interviews were conducted with operational Victoria Police members. Concurrent collection of data, analysis and theoretical development resulted in the generation of a grounded theory that explains how officers functioned within a context of uncertainty. Results indicated the presence of multiple interactions between organisational sociology, situational ambiguity and individual characteristics in the production of a decision outcome. Working within and between these three concepts, an overarching grounded theory of police officer decision- making was developed. From this, a critical analysis of police leadership as the basis for a new articulation between the occupational, organisational, and social spheres in the pursuit of a more contemporary police structure is provided. POLICE OFFICER DECISION-MAKING 4 Acknowledgments The first words of this thesis were written with the pen of glory and triumph; the last with the rustic ink of humility and curiosity. I set out to meet the requirements of the course; what I gained was imponderable knowledge and meaning. I would like to thank Professor Stuart Thomas. You have taught me how to let go of the burden of perfectionism and to see the forest for the trees. Thank you to Professor Pamela Green for teaching me the most ethereal lesson of all; the world is only what I see of it – there is no fact, only interpretation. A thank you to Professor Michael Daffern for offering a helping hand and a patient ear. I would like to extend my sincere and overwhelming gratitude to the officers who participated in this study; without their stories the words on the pages of this thesis would not bear their momentous substance. Thank you to Acting Inspector Vin Butera, you were the gatekeeper that helped transform ideas into reality. A special thank you to my dear colleagues; Delene Brookstein, Marie Henshaw, and Svenja Senkans, you are three immensely inspirational women. Without you, I fear, I would not have learned the mammoth lesson of camaraderie. I would like to thank my mother and father. Life has not always been kind to you. Thank you for showing me the value of adversity, thank you for teaching me perseverance and instilling in me fortitude. Admir, thank you for being exactly, perfectly just the way that you are – you are my oldest and most loyal friend. Finally, I would like to thank my partner. Ammar, you have absorbed everything I have shared with you like a thirsty sponge! You have encouraged, condoled, cheered, and loved. I cannot wait to walk into ever more exciting adventures with you. POLICE OFFICER DECISION-MAKING 5 General Declaration In accordance with Swinburne University of Technology regulations, the following declarations are made: I, Ines Seric, hereby declare that this thesis contains no material which has been accepted for the award to the candidate of any other degree or diploma at any university or equivalent institution, except where due reference is made in the text of the examinable outcome. To the best of the candidate’s knowledge this thesis contains no material previously published or written by another person, except where due reference is made in the text of the examinable outcome. Where the work is based on joint research or publications, the thesis discloses the relative contributions of the respective workers or authors. As the candidate, I bore principal responsibility for the ideas, research design, implementation and writing of this thesis, under the supervision of Professor Stuart Thomas and Professor Pamela Green. In completing this thesis, I worked within the Centre for Forensic Behavioural Science and the School of Health Sciences, Swinburne University of Technology. Ines Seric Doctor of Psychology (Clinical & Forensic) Candidate School of Health Sciences Faculty of Health, Arts and Design Swinburne University of Technology POLICE OFFICER DECISION-MAKING 6 Copyright Notices Notice 1 Under the Copyright Act 1968, this thesis must be used only under the normal conditions of scholarly fair dealing. In particular, no results or conclusions should be extracted from it, nor should it be copied or closely paraphrased in whole or in part without the written consent of the author. Proper written acknowledgment should be made for any assistance obtained from this thesis. Notice 2 I certify that I have made all reasonable efforts to secure copyright permissions for third party content included in this thesis and have not knowingly added copyright content to my work without the owner's permission. POLICE OFFICER DECISION-MAKING 7 Table of Contents Abstract ...................................................................................................................................... 3 Acknowledgments...................................................................................................................... 4 Appendices ............................................................................................................................... 12 List of Tables ........................................................................................................................... 13 List of Figures .......................................................................................................................... 14 Map of Victoria Police ............................................................................................................ 15 Overview of Victoria Police Regions ...................................................................................... 16 CHAPTER ONE: AB INITIO – FROM THE BEGINNING .................................................. 17 1.1 A Brief History of the Victorian Police ................................................................. 20 1.2 Epistemological Stance ............................................................................................... 23 1.3 Thesis Overview ......................................................................................................... 24 CHAPTER TWO: THE BLUE LINE ...................................................................................... 27 2.1 The Place of Extant Literature in Grounded Theory .................................................. 28 2.2 Definitions .................................................................................................................. 29 2.3 Method ........................................................................................................................ 30 2.4 Organisational Factors ................................................................................................ 32 2.4.1 Wilson’s redux. ................................................................................................ 33 2.4.2 Pulling rank. ..................................................................................................... 40 2.4.3 Does size matter? ............................................................................................. 46 2.5 Offender Characteristics ............................................................................................. 50 2.5.1 Race and the police. ......................................................................................... 51 2.5.2 Demeanour or crime? ....................................................................................... 60 2.5.3 Is chivalry dead? .............................................................................................. 68 POLICE OFFICER DECISION-MAKING 8 2.5.4 The influence of suspect mental illness. .......................................................... 74 2.6 Officer Characteristics ...............................................................................................