Last updated: 13 Nov 12 @ 03:23  |  

Police training for Mumbai-style attacks must received high quality reality-based training to respond effectively

Dr Jon Cole assesses the shortcomings of current UK police tactical training for Mumbai-style attacks and calls for more high-quality reality-based training

For many years police and military trainers have known that training needs to be as close to the real thing as possible. The assault on Mumbai by Laskhar e-Toiba has indicated that police forces worldwide are now faced with the possibility of a determined attack by well armed and well trained adversaries. Without the pre-deployment of specialist military units, the first responders will inevitably be regular police officers. The key question is, how you train personnel who are more used to dealing with everyday criminality to neutralise the threat posed by a determined terrorist assault.

For many years we have been examining tactical decision-making in police officers, and how armed confrontations alter brain function. The basic premise is simple. Through evolution we have inherited defence mechanisms that keep us alive. While the behaviour of other species looks nothing like our own, this is deceptive; the function of the behaviour stays the same. By focusing on the function of behaviour we can start to see that