We are largely the sum of our life experiences. From our first childhood memories to the present, we navigate decisions, biases, and life through the lens of our past. Consequently, when a police officer points a gun at a subject and decides whether to shoot, that life-changing decision depends on their prior experiences.

Determining how much force to use also surfaces bias, which, in turn, is affected by total life experience. Over time, exposure to terrible things can skew officers’ abilities to gauge what “normal” behavior looks like, and they may start to see the world through an “us versus them” lens.²

According to one researcher, police likely have higher rates of adverse childhood experiences.³ Additionally, they are exposed to an average of 178 critical incidents throughout their career,⁴ while the average person encounters two to three traumatic events in their life.⁵

These incidents, based on the frequency, severity, proximity, and perceived threat of death, increase an officer’s chance of developing post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).⁶ In fact, research shows that officers are two to four times more likely to suffer from PTSD compared with the U.S. general population,⁷ potentially leading to higher rates of police abuse and excessive force allegations.⁸

Positive and negative life experiences may play a role in responses and reactions to situations. For example, if your first time learning to swim is fun and enjoyable, you will most likely view the memory as a positive one and relate swimming with good feelings. Similarly, negative life experiences, such as the traumatic death of a loved one, poverty, and/or food insecurity, may lead you to have your guard up or be frugal.

For police officers, everything from training to street experience can follow the same pattern. If officers can collect positive experiences with people in their community through, for example, social interactions and visits during community events, their knowledge, fact patterns, and perhaps bias toward those community members could change.

Organizational Responsibility

Departments interested in providing life experiences for their officers are only limited by their own imaginations and, sometimes, budget. There are many opportunities locally and even more when the aperture is opened a bit wider.

On a local level, agencies can use existing relationships to provide touch points for their officers to gain new perspectives. This could include volunteering opportunities at local soup kitchens, juvenile halfway houses, churches, and more. Having officers participate, volunteer, and embed themselves in the community could have a lasting effect.

Large-scale opportunities, such as foreign travel and connections with international law enforcement partners, will continue to build experience and cultural competency and expose officers to new traditions, art, music, history, and food. This furthers their empathy, knowledge, and understanding, all of which may have a correlation with decreasing use-of-force incidents.

Additional Research

While there have been many studies and concerns about use of force in law enforcement, a gap exists in the identification and understanding of life experiences and their influence on use-of-force decision-making. Much of the current research and litigation focuses on training received up to the moment of examination; for example, the frequency of the instruction, topics, and certifications received.

The author is interested in learning about how certain life experiences affect use-of-force decisions and understanding if officers' frequency and level of force used decreased after receiving those opportunities.

Conclusion

Officers see the worst of humanity every day; no one calls the police when things are going well. Exposure to such repeated crisis situations can influence perception, cause bias, and, ultimately, impact decision-making.

Police officers are often in situations where life-changing decisions must be made. While officers should rely on their training and knowledge, their cumulative experiences can have the greatest impact on how they make those difficult decisions and how they live their lives.

Unfortunately, we will never be able to eliminate the need for officers to use force. Further research on the impact of life experiences on use-of-force decision-making is warranted, but by providing positive experiences and enrichment activities, communities could feel safer, and officers may be more resilient, culturally competent, and effective at decision-making.