In his doctoral research, M.A. (Education) Juha-Matti Huhta examined situational awareness related to police operational activities. Situational awareness at a general level refers to a perception-based understanding of the ongoing situation and the ability to anticipate what might happen next.
"The evolving security environment places increasing demands on police operations in tactical, legal, and ethical aspects. Developing situational awareness can ensure quality in police operational activities", Huhta says.
Encounters faced by the police often require exceptionally rapid decision-making and action. Police decisions and actions should be based on situational awareness, as otherwise, actions could be random, leading to significant risks for bystanders, the subject involved, and the police themselves.
Situational awareness can be systematically developed
The research systematically utilized the expertise of police officers in specialized units that deal with demanding situations and their ability to reflect on their actions. By making the tacit knowledge of experts visible, the study identified seven specific elements through which these officers form operational situational awareness.
Until now, situational awareness in relation to police operations had not been thoroughly studied or defined, even though it forms the foundation for encountering various situations in police operational activities.
The research provides new concrete meaning of situational awareness, and I hope it can significantly benefit the systematic development of situational awareness in police training. The results of the study may also be applied to the training of other professional groups that face demanding customer situations in challenging operational environments, Huhta points out.
Chief Inspector Juha-Matti Huhta works in teaching and research positions at the Police University College.
Public defense on Saturday 16 September
The doctoral dissertation of MAT Juha-Matti Huhta in the field of operational police activities titled Situational Awareness in Operational Police Encounters. How is it formed, what factors influence it and how it can be trained will be publicly examined at the Faculty of of Education and Culture at Tampere University on September 16, 2023, at 12:00 PM in Auditorium D11 (Kalevantie 4, Tampere). The opponent will be Docent Heini Harve-Rytsälä from the University of Helsinki. The custos will be Emeritus Professor Eero Ropo from the Faculty of Education and Culture at Tampere University.
The doctoral dissertation is available online.
The public defense can be followed via remote connection (in Finnish).
Image: Polamk