A Cognitive View of Policing: Leveraging Behavioral Science to Improve Officer Training
About the Lecture What if the key to police reform isn't changing policies or removing "bad actors," but understanding how good officers make decisions under pressure? Professor Dube argues that prevailing approaches to police reform overlook a fundamental reality: officers must make decisions under intense stress and time pressure—cognitive conditions that lead even well-intentioned officers to rely on mental shortcuts and default assumptions. Drawing on insights from behavioral economics, Professor Dube designed a new training approach that addresses these cognitive realities. Through a sustained partnership with the Chicago Police Department, she tested whether changing how officers think could transform how …
