Police, Crisis Response and Jedi Mind Tricks

But, as I wrote Mr. Hardin, if Mr. Boyd wasn't a threat in those last few seconds, expecting an officer to recognize that, in the midst of all that stress and adrenalin and fear, may be asking too much.

I completely agree with this statement.  It's behavioural economics; behaviour isn't about rational thought, it's about neurological hardwiring, hormones and neurotransmitters.  We like to tell ourselves police are trained to the point of being Jedi when it comes to high-stress, life-or-depth situations, but they're not.

But they could be.  They could also be hired with an eye for natural proclivities towards crisis response.  This doesn't mean not hiring more aggressive psychological profiles - like any good team, you want a mix of responses and talents so as to have flexibility to adapt and manage differing situations.

This is a Plato's Desktop kind of thing - we're looking to choose between existing options, defending and overlooking the failings in our preferred choice and doing the reverse of the other.

There's another way.  There's always another way.  To find it, though, we have to stop being so defensive and start focusing on solutions.

Solution-based policy; what a fascinating concept.