KODIAK

- a psychological model for de-escalation in everyday police operations

Clemens Lorei, Kerstin Kocab, Tim Haini, Kristina Menzel, Hermann Groß, Rainer Bachmann & Thomas Greis

1 Introduction

Violence is a part of everyday police work, whereby routine operations encompass any kind of deployment that police officers without any specializations handle daily. These include for example, interventions in cases of domestic violence, handling of traffic accidents and offenses, and various forms of conflict resolution. The police are called upon to intervene or initiate criminal proceedings because one or more persons are using any form of violence against one or more other persons. On the other hand, police officers use violence to enforce measures or ensure the safety of citizens or other first responders. This violence is legitimized by law.

Zusammenfassung

Gewalt zu vermeiden und zu verhindern, erfordert viel. Einsatzkräfte erleben jeden Tag Situationen, in denen Gewalt präsent ist. Sie in die Lage zu versetzen, Gewalt zu verhindern und zu vermeiden oder nur mit geringer Intensität einzusetzen, ist Ziel von Deeskalation. Zu deeskalieren kann und muss gelernt werden. Dieses Lernen soll durch das Modell kommunikativer Deeskalation in alltäglichen Konfliktsituationen (KODIAK) unterstützt werden. KODIAK möchte Polizeibeamt*innen helfen, Fertigkeiten zu entwickeln, um Konflikte in alltäglichen Einsätzen zu bewältigen. KODIAK bietet Orientierung für zielgerichtetes Deeskalieren in solchen alltäglichen Einsatzsituationen. Der hier vorgelegte Beitrag führt in KODIAK und sein wissenschaftliches Fundament ein.

Deeskalation, Einsatzkommunikation, Eigensicherung, unmittelbarer Zwang, Gewaltprävention.

Abstract

Preventing and avoiding violence requires a lot. Every day, law enforcement officers encounter situations where violence is present. The goal of de-escalation is to empower them to prevent and avoid violence or to use it with minimal intensity. De-escalation can and must be learned. This learning is intended to be supported by the Model of Communicative De-escalation in Everyday Conflict Situations (German: Modell kommunikativer Deeskalation in alltäglichen Konfliktsituationen [KODIAK]). KODIAK aims to assist police officers in developing skills to manage conflicts in everyday operations. It guides targeted de-escalation in such deployment scenarios. The present article introduces the KODIAK model against the current research landscape surrounding police de-escalation, providing explanations for its background. The model offers a practical approach to a sphere that has seldom been evaluated in police practice.

De-escalation, police communication, safety, violence prevention, use of force.

Police officers also experience violence when attacks are directed against them (Ellrich and Baiser, 2022; Leuschner et al., 2023; Taylor, Liu and Sheridan, 2023; Tiesman et al., 2018). Defending oneself, repelling dangers from others, and enforcing measures against citizen resistance are, therefore, everyday police tasks. The use of force is legitimized, but always in a delicate balance, as the two sides (violence against police officers and by police officers) seem to depend on each other (Lauber and Welscher, 2023; van Reemst, Fischer and Weerman, 2022). Using less force can result in police officers being victimized. Excessive force is a crime and turns the police officer into an offender. The responsible task of using force in the line of duty requires a lot and can have severe consequences for individuals as well as for the general population, as events such as those following the death of George Floyd in the USA (Campbell, 2021; Skoy, 2020), the debate following the fatal shooting of a 16-year-old in Germany in the summer of 2022 (Bauernfeind, 2022), and the riots in France in 2023 after the killing of a 17-year-old by the police (Joeres, 2023) have shown. Ultimately, trust in the police also seems to depend on the delicate matter of the excessive use of force (Baier and Ellrich, 2014; Nägel and Lutter, 2023; Staubli, 2023), which can then shape future interactions between citizens and the police. Therefore, both for the prevention of police violence and as a means to reduce violence against emergency responders, de-escalation is demanded (Rau and Leuschner, 2018). This corresponds to both the German Police Regulation 100 (PDV 100), the European Code of Police Ethics (Council of Europe Ministerial Committee, 2011), and the guiding principle of the police in the USA, the National Consensus Policy on Use of Force (IACP, 2017, p. 3):

1. 1. An officer shall use de-escalation techniques and other alternatives to higher levels of force consistent with his or her training whenever possible and appropriate before resorting to force and to reduce the need for force.
2. 2. Whenever possible and when such delay will not compromise the safety of the officer or another and will not result in the destruction of evidence, escape of a suspect, or commission of a crime, an officer shall allow an individual time and opportunity to submit to verbal commands before force is used.

Lorei and Balaneskovic (2023) define de-escalation as follows: "De-escalation is behavior (verbal and non-verbal communication, tactical measures) that does not allow conflicts to degenerate into increased use of force (conflict resolution with violence), but avoids them, stops their development, or reverses them, and includes all measures that can achieve this", which essentially corresponds to the definition of the National Consensus Policy on Use of Force (IACP, 2017, p. 2).

2 Effectiveness of de-escalation and de-escalation training

Numerous techniques and tactics exist to serve de-escalation purposes (Lorei and Balaneskovic, 2023). However, when and whether these are successful is empirically little examined or substantiated (Du et al., 2017; Gaynes et al., 2017; Roberto et al., 2012; Spencer, Johnson and Smith, 2018; Spielfogel and McMillen, 2017; Todak and White, 2019). Nevertheless, police officers use these techniques every day (Lorei, 2020; Todak and James, 2018; Todak and White, 2019; White et al., 2021). In most cases, citizens are treated respectfully, measures are transparently explained, and words are chosen to be easily understandable (Todak and James, 2018). Listening is also a widespread strategy in daily police work (Todak and James, 2018). It is relatively rare to systematically attempt to calm down an agitated citizen and show them empathy (Todak and James, 2018). Neglecting such de-escalating techniques can lead to escalations. Victims of police misconduct report being treated disrespectfully and rudely by the police and that the police measures were not adequately explained (Abdul-Rahman et al., 2023). However, it remains uncertain when and if de-escalation techniques work. Similar uncertainties about effectiveness exist for de-escalation training, which, like other police trainings, are rarely evaluated (Giacomantonio et al., 2019). Evaluations, when conducted, are often methodologically weak (Leach et al., 2019). De-escalation trainings are also mostly not standardized and vary significantly in terms of content, scope, objectives, and pedagogy (for the USA: Leach et al, 2019; Pontzer, 2021; for Germany: Lorei et al., 2023a, c, d; for the EU: Lorei et al., 2023b, e). Sometimes, the effect of such trainings lies primarily in the realm of knowledge and changes in personal attitudes (Spencer, Johnson and Smith, 2018). Participants in a Canadian de-escalation training were very satisfied with the training (Giacomantonio, Goodwin and Carmichael, 2019). They could also remember the content well and were convinced and motivated to apply the learned skills (Giacomantonio, Goodwin and Carmichael, 2019). This was also observed in operational simulations; however, many participants retained various behaviors and did not change their behavioral habits in some areas (Giacomantonio, Goodwin and Carmichael, 2019). A transfer effect of the training to police practice could not be demonstrated (Giacomantonio, Goodwin and Carmichael, 2019). This corresponds to the findings of Leach et al. (2019), who surveyed the research on de-escalation and found that de-escalation trainings did not make violent or aggressive events less frequent. However, it did make it easier for the affected individuals to deal with them through more knowledge, self-confidence, and techniques. Engel, McManus and Herold (2020) summarized 64 evaluations of de-escalation trainings, mainly originating from the field of nursing or dealing with mentally ill individuals. The trainings had generally positive effects, but the studies were always afflicted with methodological deficiencies (Engel, McManus and Herold, 2020). Here, too, the trainings were mostly effective in terms of knowledge, attitude, and participants' self-confidence (Engel, McManus and Herold, 2020). Rarely was an effect on behavior in corresponding situations measured (Engel, Mc-Manus and Herold, 2020). However, some studies show a clear effect on police practice. Goh (2021) found that following training, the number of operations in which police officers used violence decreased. Engel et al. (2022) also found such an effect. Their evaluation of de-escalation training showed a significant decrease in the use of violence (-28.1 %) as well as in the number of injured police officers (-36.0 %) and citizens (-26.3 %).

3 Potential influence...