Reacting vs Responding when it counts (and it always counts!)

What is the difference between reacting to a situation and responding to it? REACTING is what you do without thought. It’s the automatic action, or words, that you use in a given situation before you’ve had a chance to think about it. RESPONDING is what you do when you have a chance to engage the prefrontal cortex, which is the area of the brain that is responsible for rational thought, decision making and planning for the future.

In policing, cops are frequently required to react to rapidly unfolding situations. And that’s appropriate. It may very well mean the difference between surviving an incident or having your name carved into the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial in our nation’s capital. But reacting to most of the situations with which cops are confronted, as opposed to responding to them, is frequently an admission ticket to a citizen’s complaint investigation.

The perception of defiance exemplifies this issue. Sometimes people are clearly being defiant. But frequently they are simply asking a question like “why did you stop me?” They do so because they’re either sincerely curious or their paradigm about policing is an unsupportive one. Many a police officer has reacted to this question with a less-than-positive response that escalates the interaction – usually with a predictable outcome. This issue is such a problem that in California it just became a legal requirement that police officers must inform motorists during routine traffic stops why they were stopped before they can ask them questions or for their license, registration, etc. (AB2773).

FPI Fellow Katie Wrigley, a Cognomovement Coach and Practitioner has written an insightful article about the difference between reacting and responding to stressful situations. Every cop would do themselves a favor by reading it and considering her wise words. You can read her article here.