Taming the Serpent

How Neuroscience Can Revolutionize Modern Law Enforcement Training

Michael G. Malpass

• Publisher: Ockham Publishing
• Year: 2022
• Print ISBN: 9781912701346
• eBook ISBN: 9781912701353
• Topic: Social Sciences
• Subtopic: Violence in Society
• Index: Social Sciences

Law enforcement has been increasingly under fire in the media for what we believe is unnecessary police violence. But few have suggestions as to what we can do about it. There is a noticeable gap between the way officers are trained and how the brain processes information in the stressful and risky situations which police work. Training arguably no longer prepares our officers for how to effectively deal with these situations. But with advancements in neuroscience, we could finally have the answer. We can guide modern training for better decision-making and performance under life-threatening stress and pressure – for the good of police officers and the public. Taming the Serpent brings the research about neuroscience and law enforcement together, showing how we can revolutionise modern law enforcement.

Chapter One

An Introduction to the Science

Science is nothing but developed perception, integrated intent, common sense rounded out and minutely articulated.

– George Santayana

The Split Processed Brain

Imagine your brain and central nervous system as a split processing system made up of various sections geared toward cognitive thought, to emotions, and the making of emotional memories. In the early days of our human ancestors, the brain favored the emotional system which is geared toward survival. For instance, our early ancestors may have walked for days in search of food and water. Exhausted, suffering from thirst and hunger, they happen upon an oasis of lush trees and plentiful water. Chemicals were released from the emotional components of the brain. Those chemicals gave them feelings of joy and relief because they had found a chance to survive another day. While the emotional system created these chemical changes, the same chemicals gave information to other parts of the emotional system. It told the system to remember not only the location of the water, edible plants, and fruits but also the associated emotions of relief from hunger and starvation to stress the importance to the “system.” The same ancestors in their travels may have encountered wild animals, other humans hell bent on taking any goods they had accumulated, or any of the natural hazards found in whatever environment they traveled in.

The emotional system would respond to these incidents by releasing chemicals like adrenaline, to drive survival behavior like fleeing, fighting, freezing in place, posturing or submission. With the release of certain chemicals, the emotional system indexes the memory of the event to aid in future decisions. When the violence was over and immediate survival was not threatened, the emotional system would release chemicals that would drive the mechanism (that’s you) to promulgate the species by mating. Each of these incidents would spark the creation of memories all geared toward driving our ancestors away from risk, toward reward, and the balance of the two for survival. This constant state of pure survival mode would make life difficult as every day would be a struggle to find food, shelter, and a means to deal with extreme heat or cold, as well as protecting the group from animals and enemies.

At some point in time, our early ancestors began a heavier engagement of the cognitive portions of the brain, which was probably sparked by the survival systems to make life easier. Somehow, humans found out how to make fire, tools, and weapons, all things that surpassed other animals’ development. Cognitive thought, intuitive thinking and problem solving aided our early ancestors and us. Once cognition was brought into the mix, anyone without those abilities would either die or rely heavily on someone who possessed cognitive abilities. Those who survived, passed on the stronger genes.

Each system, whether emotional or cognitive, has a memory system associated with it. On the emotional side there is procedural memory and on the cognitive side is declarative memory and working memory. Declarative memory and working memory aid you in running mental simulations, thinking your way through problems, and troubleshooting. Procedural memories, spurred by the emotional side, are unconscious physical actions geared toward survival. Procedural memory contains responses that are ingrained in the system from birth like the flinch and grasp reflexes. Procedural memory can also be trained with what Laurence Gonzalez, in Deep Survival, calls “secondary emotional bookmarks,”³ as the unconscious system is always learning, regardless of whether we want it to.

Twenty years ago, the training to become a law enforcement officer was very similar to the training twenty years before that. Not a lot has changed between then and now either. Academies and agencies are very good at teaching the “theory” of law enforcement, the idea of the law, what happens when you break it, the need to be civil in your discourse, educating on race and social and economic disparity. In other words, they are very good at filling your declarative memory systems with information. Declarative memory is part of the long-term memory systems and it requires the conscious “you” to access the information contained within. Declarative memory will take you far in your law enforcement career until the violence starts. Declarative memory is filled with facts, ideas, and concepts that you can consciously describe. Procedural memory is an unconscious system that doesn't rely on the conscious “you” to access information in its data bank, making it faster to access than declarative memory. If the situation calls for a survival response or a heavier emotional response for that matter, your central nervous system favors defaulting to procedural memory which is where survival responses like defensive tactics, movement under fire, and shooting skills need to be ingrained.

Something law enforcement trainers need to understand is that the procedural memory system is always learning whether you want it to or not. Meaning, certain things we do in training may be preparing the procedural system to do the wrong thing in a real-life encounter. A prime example of this is if the officer spends most of their range time shooting from a stationary position. In a real life and death encounter the procedural memory system may default to this same response, even though movement is required when acting against the sudden movement of a suspect. Remember, that turning target on the range represents a suspect with a gun already pointed at you. Does it make sense to train an unconscious system to possibly default to standing your ground against a gun already pointed at you?

What modern trainers of law enforcement, investigators of police use of force, or those who report on use of force need to understand is that, in the past, we have trained police officers in the best way we knew how at the time. Those times have changed. Modern neuroscience is giving us a look at how the brain operates under extreme pressure and why brain training is essential.

A Quick Review

I refer to science in my presentations whether in defensive tactics training, training on de-escalation, or training on the tactical brain. Without the science this book is just a story or a best guess. With the science, the reader can use their own experiences or the experiences of others to gain a deeper understanding of the complexities of training for these one percent of incidents like lethal force encounters, active shooter situations, hostage situations, ambushes, multiple opponent fights, and downed officer or civilian rescues.

Earlier, the concept of the brain as a split processing center was introduced. Before delving deeper into this concept, I'll provide you with an analogy from the ancient Greeks on the balance required between reason (cognitive) and emotion. As it turns out, all the great thinkers and warriors throughout history have known that you must balance reason and emotion to be at your best in any field of endeavor. We now have the science to not only back these thoughts but to train and accelerate the process of finding that balance daily.

According to the ancient Greeks, “the conscious you” drives a chariot pulled by two large horses. One horse represents your emotions (to include gut instincts) and is trying to pull the chariot off to one side of the road. The other horse represents reason (the cognitive side of the house) and that horse is trying to pull the chariot off to the other side of the road. Your job as the charioteer is to maintain firm control on the reigns and maintain a straight, balanced path of travel.

Understanding the cognitive and emotional systems, how they work along with the memory systems and how they are accessed, provides the individual with a firm grip on the reigns. This gives control over the chariot that is on your path in life, at any given time, including under stressful, potentially life-changing situations. This concept of how to train by balancing emotion and reason is the foundation of this book. This is crucial in every aspect of planning, communicating, training, and tactical preparation. It is the secret that has been hiding in plain sight.

The Peak Performance State

Peak performance is possible when our skill levels match the perceived demands of the situation. When skill levels are high, and the perceived demands are low, as in most police training, you get boredom. When the demands of the situation exceed the skill level of the officer, you get anxiety and as the demands increase, panic. Peak performance is possible only when the individual’s cognitive system is in balance with emotions. The balance is possible due to the officer’s skill set meeting the perceived demands of the situation. This is where mindset is also important. Any situation can be an opportunity for growth (challenge) or an overwhelming obstacle. Mindset is a byproduct of the skill set training, experience with decisions made before the violence starts, and performance under pressure in training and real-life experience. Mindset and true appraisal of the situation gives the officer the opportunity to avoid an over-emotional response or even worse, an amygdala hijack.

The Amygdala Hijack

Using the analogy of the chariot and the horses named Emotion and Reason, the amygdala hijack describes what happens when the horse named Emotion runs the chariot off the road with its deviation from the straight path. The amygdala's primary role is to interpret incoming data, map emotional memories, and drive the mechanism toward reward and away from excessive risk. The amygdala accomplishes this by creating emotional memories which are prioritized for future use. We will discuss the amygdala and the emotional system in more detail in a later chapter.

The term “amygdala hijack” was first used in the book Emotional Intelligence written by Daniel Goleman in 1996. His terminology was based on research done by Joseph LeDoux. To keep it simple, as I hope to do throughout the book, the amygdala hijack is what happens when your emotional response to a situation is out of context with the situation and you later realize your reasoning skills had been hindered or shut off. If you are driving in a car and are late and under stress, another driver cutting you off can elicit a response out of context with your normal behavior and you may find it hard to calm down after the event. You have experienced an amygdala hijack.

When dealing with the brain and the split processing system, it's important to note that blood flows where the action is. Too much of an emotional reaction eliciting an extreme fight or flight response and you risk the hijack. The hijack can be useful when unthinking brute force is required as in the story of an elderly grandmother lifting a car off her trapped grandson. When you hear the terms fight, flight, freeze, posture, and submit, you are talking about extreme emotional responses. The fastest pathway for sensory input in the brain is to the amygdala, which then allows a secondary pathway of nerve signals to travel to the conscious portions of the brain. When the amygdala is hijacked, extreme levels of cortisol are released in the fight or flight response. It is believed the release of cortisol acts as a barrier to cut off the high road, the road to conscious thought, thinking through consequences, formulation of tactical strategies, and emotional control. The longer the pathway to the conscious response is blocked by the amygdala hijack, the greater the problems for a law enforcement officer. The block delays a conscious response where formulating plans, tactical thinking, and evaluating consequences of actions occurs. The extreme fight or flight response releases a series of chemicals into the system which inhibit fine motor control and cause extreme tunnel vision. When uncontrolled, a negative feedback circuit ensues which will further excite the emotional side while rational thought is effectively shut off.

Some officers who shoot very well during their qualifications, do not perform anywhere near as well in real-life, lethal use-of-force situations. It is my belief that the amygdala hijack (or at least an overwhelming emotional response) affects performance, diminishes cognitive thought, and can cause procedural skills ingrained into the procedural memory system to falter due to the excessive emotional response. An officer who allows the emotional response to get out of control will most likely lose the cognitive observations that aid in decision-making and prevent the emotional systems from becoming overwhelmed.

On the personal side, the amygdala hijack also accounts for why we sometimes say and do things under stress that later don't make sense to us. Remember, the emotional system is designed for survival, but it is the cognitive side of the house that determines the difference between an argument and a real fight. To the emotional side of the house, the two are the same and an emotional response to a verbal argument can be extreme. Have you ever said something vile and nasty to someone you love in the middle of a verbal argument and later regretted it? You experienced the amygdala dump. Have you ever wondered why a 100-mph car chase with the police is more likely to end with an excessive force complaint? The brain in a car pursuit is attempting to take in data at the speed of the car which it is not designed to do. The brain is in pure fight or flight mode. For the officer, that has morphed into prey runs and predator chases. When the suspect crashes, the car fails, runs out of gas, or the suspect just pulls over to give up, officers untrained in the brain sciences are still in fight or flight mode and the amygdala response indicates fight. In no way do I mean to make light of the situation, but it is easy to assume the officers are evil, racist, or uncaring. However, the simple explanation might be that they have lost control of their emotional system. When they may or may not be in immediate danger at that point, their emotional system is screaming at them to fight for their lives.

Imagine a rookie officer who finished his field training process and has been riding solo on the streets of a wealthy suburb outside of Columbus, Ohio for about a month. This officer was dispatched to a traffic obstruction at a major intersection during rush hour traffic. He was hoping for a call with a little more action attached but a call is better than no call. The officer gets out of his patrol car, squares away his uniform making sure he looks sharp and in command. He looks in the intersection and notices a long line of cars in all four directions moving slowly through the four-way stop and moving around … a large goose, intent on owning the middle of the intersection.

Never having dealt with a goose before, he's trying to think of a way to move the goose from the int...

Table of contents

• Dedication
• Table of Contents
• Prologue
• Introduction
• Chapter One
• Chapter Two
• Chapter Three
• Chapter Four
• Chapter Five
• Chapter Six
• Chapter Seven
• Chapter Eight
• Chapter Nine
• Chapter Ten
• Chapter Eleven
• Chapter Twelve
• Chapter Thirteen
• Chapter Fourteen
• Bibliography
• Notes