Author(s):
Clemens Lorei, Christina Schut, Valentina Heil, Kristina Braun, Thomas Greis & Andreas Nagl

Institution:
Hessische Hochschule für öffentliches Management & Bundesministerium für Inneres - Sicherheitsakademie - Bildungszentrum der Sicherheitsexekutive Wien

Title:
Is the word mightier than the sword? How do police recruits rate the “most important police tool”?

Abstract:
Communication is the most important police tool and de-escalation is the guiding principle. The use of coercion and force is the exception and only a last resort. The decision to use force may depend on whether communication is considered to be more or less effective. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to find out how effective new police recruits consider communication to be in comparison to coercion and the use of firearms. The results show that the outcome expectancy of using firearms is highest, followed by coercion and then communicative de-escalation. This assessment is related to attitude, self-efficacy, and practical experience.

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