The 411 on JDLR and what it means for identifying active threats
Transmitting knowledge from more to less experienced police officers can occur in a variety of ways. It may occur during formal training sessions. It may also occur during one-on-one interaction between the experienced and the less experienced, such as during field training.
While potentially effective, unless the experience of veteran officers is systematically recorded and transmitted to the less experienced, knowledge often gets lost or is inconsistently transmitted. That’s why we’re giving you the 411 on the Just Doesn’t Look Right (JDLR) Project and what it means for identifying active threats.
Think about your experiences as a rookie officer. You learned a lot from not only doing the job but the officers that you worked with. You probably have a lot of knowledge that you haven’t had the chance to pass on to your fellow officers. This is where research can help.
In this post, we will describe the Just Doesn’t Look Right (JDRL) Research Project and provide you some follow-on resources.
The JDLR Project
The U.S. Department of Defense-funded JDLR Project was undertaken to transfer tactics, techniques, and procedures to identify active threats from veteran to inexperienced military, law enforcement, and security personnel. This project was managed and implemented by members of the Second Sight Team.
In other words, we studied if it was possible to pass the capabilities of a veteran police officer to identify an active threat (such someone who is carrying a concealed weapon) to the less experienced. For example, this less experienced person could include a young soldier deployed to an urban environment in the Middle East or a rookie police officer just finishing the academy.
Thankfully, this is possible. As part of the JDLR Project, we not only figured out how to transfer this knowledge on identifying active threats to military personnel, but also to police officers, sheriff deputies and other law enforcement officers like you and those that work for you.
We studied how and why law enforcement uses behavior to identify active threats. Data collection involved interviews and focus groups with Federal, State, and local law enforcement. Experienced men and women just like those that work in your agency.
Organizations which collaborated on the JDLR Project include:
• Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department (NV)
• Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department (CA)
• Los Angeles Police Department (CA)
• International Narcotics Interdiction Association
• The United States Secret Service
• Maryland State Police
• North Carolina State Highway Patrol
• Boston Police Department (MA)
• Charlotte Mecklenburg Police Department (NC)
• Houston Police Department (Texas)
• Schenectady Police Department (NY)
• Glenville Police Department (NY)
There were three phases associated with the project. Each are described separately below.
JDLR PHASE I: Identifying Active Threats
The primary goal of Phase I was to identify behaviors associated with threats, fear of detection, or the carrying of some form of contraband. This identification of specific behaviors was necessary because available research and documentation on these behavioral indicators were limited to a few practitioner focused training materials (NY DCJS, 2011; Porter, 2010).
In Phase I, we focused on documenting the behaviors indicating that a subject is carrying a handgun or illegal narcotics.
We focused on specific types of suspicious behavior and how individuals carrying these specific items of contraband behave when they are unobserved by law enforcement (operating in their natural environment), how they behave when law enforcement or a police patrol is present but not watching them, how they act when that patrol is watching them, and, finally, how they behave when initially approached by that patrol. The findings of Phase I were documented in three reports published with the Defense Threat Information Center (DTIC) and in various academic journals:
These reports provide a foundation for identifying active threats, active threat assessment, and of specific threat indicators associated with threat, fear of detection, and the carrying of contraband.
JDLR PHASE II: Behavioral Threat Indicators
The primary goal of Phase II was to study how behavioral indicators are used during an encounter between a person of interest and the police. We ventured to understand how veteran police officers identify active threats and interpret, process, and react to human behavior.
Unlike in Phase I, we did not focus solely on persons carrying firearms or drugs. Instead, we concentrated on encounters where the exact motivator of the suspicious behavior was unknown.
A focus on the unknown was necessary because a person may be acting suspiciously for a variety of reasons: they may be in possession of a firearm or illegal drugs, engaged in a criminal act, be wanted by police, have negative attitudes towards law enforcement, or simply be anxious. It may only be possible to identify why someone is acting “suspiciously” if you go talk to them, even then it might not be enough. As you also know, not everyone who is “suspicious” may also not be doing something bad or illegal.
To better understand how police use behavior to make decisions we invited teams of police officers from throughout the country to participate. The officers participated in a role-playing scenario with experienced police trainers and were subsequently debriefed regarding what they saw and how they made decisions. We then studied how the participating officers interpreted the behaviors they observed and how these behaviors were incorporated into the decision-making process.
The findings of Phase II were documented in a single report published with DTIC titled Behavioral Indicators During a Police Interdiction.
These efforts, in combination with the research conducted in JDLR Phase I, provided a basis for understanding when, why, and how behavior is used to identify active threats detection.
JDLR PHASE III: Transitioning Research to Practice through Training
Phase I and II of the JDLR Project created a foundation to develop training for law enforcement and security personnel to identify active threats and utilize behavioral observation in a safe, legal, and effective manner. JDLR Phase III focused on transitioning this research to practice in the form of training for military personnel deployed to complex environments.
Training military, police, and security personnel to assess and properly react to the behavior of people around them will better prepare them to complete their mission and keep themselves and their compatriots safe. You can read more about this transition of research to practice and the Identifying Threats program in our blog post titled “The Origin Story Of Active Threat Assessment For Law Enforcement: The Identifying Threats Program.”
Informing Police Decision-Making
This research, and the training developed from it, touch law enforcement in a variety of ways.
It establishes standardized terminology for behavioral threat indicators.
It documents how and why police officers make decisions during an interdiction.
It identifies the types of observations, assessments, and predictions they routinely make.
The methods associated with identifying active threats are related to decisions by police officers to detain, search, use force, or make an arrest. They can also help in the establishment of reasonable suspicion. Your officers make these decisions on a routine basis. Bad decisions by your officers can cause you a lot of problems. Good decisions allow you and your personnel to complete their mission and keep people safe.
Findings associated with this project have been used to support military and law enforcement personnel deployed to a variety of complex missions. Our active threat training techniques are practitioner derived and molded through science. Course techniques have been transitioned to law enforcement and military personnel in the US and abroad.
Learn more on training your officers from the expert researchers and team behind the JDLR Project here at Second Sight. We have a variety of online and instructor-led officers, and our Threat Awareness for Law Enforcement program is nationally certified by IADLEST.