Near Misses in Policing

Near misses have long been studied across industries like healthcare, aviation and manufacturing as a means of improving system performance, minimizing errors and increasing safety. For several years, this concept has been used in policing through initiatives like the National Policing Institute's national Law Enforcement Officer Near Miss Reporting System. Understanding why near misses occur is crucial to not only officer well-being but also improving community-police interactions.

What Is a Near Miss in Policing?

A near miss refers to an unplanned event which could have resulted in injury, fatality or significant property damage but did not. For instance, this might include narrowly avoiding an accident during a high-speed chase or almost employing force when ultimately none was necessary. In these samples, and in fact, in every near miss incident, the near misses provide invaluable learning experiences.

Acknowledging and Recording Near Misses Is Key

Capturing near misses provides invaluable data that can inform both immediate decisions and long-term strategy. Such incidents typically contain extensive details that illustrate what almost happened, which can then be dissected for lessons learned. But if an organization doesn’t value the learning gained from these incidents, or sends informal dissuading messages to the workforce about recording and engaging in the learning process, the opportunity for understanding and using the lessons to be learned from near misses will be lost. Policing leaders interested in benefiting from the process of understanding near misses must adopt a non-blaming approach to the near miss learning process. This starts by not punishing employees who self-report near misses. Every cop has multipole near misses throughout their career so it’s not like these are novel occurrences. When police leaders acknowledge near miss occurrences in a non-blaming way, and articulate their intent to use the reports as learning opportunities, officer safety and wellness increases.

Preventing Future Errors and Building Trust

Gaining insight into why an incident almost resulted in harm can provide valuable strategies for avoiding future mistakes; in an industry in which split-second decisions often determine life or death, this knowledge can be particularly crucial. Near miss reporting systems strives to accomplish two principle goals of enhancing officer safety and wellness and building higher levels of community trust and confidence in the police. When the cause of a near miss is understood changes can be made to prevent a similar future occurrence. Reported and addressed near misses that involve community embers – like a near miss involving deadly force – can improve community trust, thus leading to stronger police-community relationships.

Better understanding the circumstances that contribute to near misses can lead to improved training programs that cover both physical and psychological elements of police work and thereby make policing safer and more supportive of police officers. Recognizing issues such as equipment malfunction, for instance, or communication breakdown, is one way of taking proactive steps that reduce risks during operations and decrease operational risks.

Officers often face extreme levels of stress that impede decision-making processes. Reflection upon near misses can increase confidence and reduce anxiety about potential outcomes of actions taken, thereby increasing their psychological and emotional well-being.

Peer Support and Learning: Promoting and facilitating the discussion of near misses increases peer support and learning. Organization-wide understanding of near misses within an agency can create a collective sense of responsibility and promote learning - two characteristics essential for overall wellness.

Building A Learning Organization

Learning organizations actively collect and use information for continuous improvement. A near-miss reporting system is an important part of any learning organization. In policing, this specifically translates to improvements in training, policy and procedural refinement.

Near miss reports provide trainers with invaluable insights for creating adaptive programs tailored specifically to reflect real world scenarios, making sure their instruction remains as useful and pertinent as possible. They also provide data that can help make policy recommendations. For instance, if there is an increased rate of near misses during night shifts, additional manpower or resources may need to be assigned in response. And finally, officers themselves can serve as part of a feedback loop where insights gleaned from near-miss data inform not only departmental policies but also individual behavior and decision-making.

Conclusion

The National Policing Institute's initiative to document near misses is an impressive leap forward for policing strategy. Police organizations can either actively support this initiative or build their own near miss reporting system. Aligning with principles of a learning organization, this strategy could have profound effects on officer safety and wellness. By recording, analyzing, and learning from critical incidents police work can evolve into a profession more suitable to its complexities while serving the public more effectively, empathetically and in a more just manner.

The National Policing Institute’s Law Enforcement Officer Near Miss Reporting System can be accessed at:

https://www.policinginstitute.org/projects/law-enforcement-officer-near-miss-reporting-system/