The problem of entanglement: Biases and fallacies in police conflict management
| DOI | 10.1177/14613557211064054 |
| Author | Benjamin Zaiser,Swen Koerner,Mario S Staller |
| Published date | 01 June 2022 |
| Date | 01 June 2022 |
| Subject Matter | Original Research Articles |
The problem of entanglement: Biases and
fallacies in police conflict management
Mario S Staller
(Department of Police,) University of Applied Sciences for Police and Public Administration
North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany
Benjamin Zaiser
(Department of Psychological Sciences,) University of Liverpool, UK
Swen Koerner
(Department of Training Pedagogy and Martial Research,) German Sports University,
Germany
Abstract
Cognitive biases have been identified as drivers of the excessive use of force, which has determined current affairs across
the globe. In this article, we argue that the police are facing serious challenges in combating these biases. These challenges
stem from the nature of cognitive biases, their sources and the fallacies that mislead police professionals in the way they
think about them. Based on a framework of expert decision-making fallacies and biases, we argue that these fallacies limit
the impact of efforts to mitigate cognitive biases in police conflict management. In order to achieve a systemic under-
standing of cognitive biases and their detrimental effects, the article concludes that implementing reflexive structures
within the police is a crucial prerequisite to effectively reflect on external influences and to limit bias and fallacies
from further unfolding in a self-referential loop.
Keywords
Police conflict management, use for force, cognitive bias, fallacies, reflexivity, police–citizen interaction
Submitted 30 Jun 2021, Revise received 30 Jun 2021, accepted 6 Sep 2021
Introduction
“Cognitive bias”has been identified as a driving factor con-
cerning the use of inappropriate force by the police, espe-
cially towards people of color and other minoritized
groups (Boxer et al., 2021; Dukes and Kahn, 2017; Kahn
and Martin, 2020; Peeples, 2020). Combating cognitive
biases that negatively affect police–citizen encounters
poses serious challenges for the police (Peeples, 2020).
This may be due to the ubiquity of bias concerning
human cognition and the various forms it presents
(Nickerson, 1998). In criminal justice, cognitive biases
have been studied in several subject areas, including wrong-
ful convictions (Burke, 2007), biased prosecution practice
in general (Burke, 2007) and forensic science (Dror,
2020a; Kukucka et al., 2017; Nakhaeizadeh et al., 2015).
Regarding conflict management in law enforcement, cogni-
tive biases have been introduced as a lens through which
Corresponding author:
Mario S Staller, Department of Police, University of Applied Sciences for
Police and Public Administration North Rhine-Westphalia, Aachen,
Germany.
Email: mario.staller@hspv.nrw.de
Original Research Article
International Journal of
Police Science & Management
2022, Vol. 24(2) 113–123
© The Author(s) 2021
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DOI: 10.1177/14613557211064054
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