By Kevin Rice
An officer nearing the end of a shift conducts what should be a simple traffic stop. The officer plans to issue a warning and head home. Instead, the driver refuses to cooperate, has a felony warrant and resists arrest.
The officer’s original plan has been blocked. Frustration begins.
At that point, the officer has choices. The frustration may remain manageable and result in professional problem-solving. It may evolve into irritation or contribute to anger. It may also narrow the officer’s attention until the goal is no longer to safely resolve the encounter, but simply to get it over with.
That is why frustration deserves more attention in law enforcement training.
Police officers receive training in firearms, defensive tactics, de-escalation, legal updates, emergency driving and crisis intervention. Yet one of the most common emotions officers experience receives little attention in academies, field training programs or in-service courses.
The goal is not to eliminate frustration. That is impossible. The goal is to recognize it when it happens, manage it and ensure that training, professionalism and judgment remain in control.
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Frustration is not anger
Many people treat frustration as a synonym for anger, but the distinction matters.
Frustration can be understood as a sense of dissatisfaction arising from unresolved problems or unfulfilled needs. [1] Simply put, frustration begins when something interferes with what you expected or intended to accomplish. Anger is a separate emotional response that may follow.
An officer can be frustrated without being angry. But officers who identify frustration early have an opportunity to address it before it begins affecting performance, communication or judgment.
Frustration tends to announce its arrival through physical, cognitive and behavioral warning signs.
Physical signs
- Tight jaw or clenched fists
- Rapid breathing or an elevated heart rate
- Muscle tension in the neck and shoulders
- Physical restlessness
Cognitive signs
- Tunnel vision
- Repetitive negative thoughts
- Difficulty considering alternatives
- Increased focus on the source of irritation
- Reduced patience
Behavioral signs
- Sarcasm or interrupting others
- A raised voice or abrupt communication
- Rushed decisions
- Complaining, avoidance or withdrawal
One particularly important warning sign is the desire to “just get this over with.”
Recognizing that response is not a sign of weakness. It is a sign of self-awareness. The officer who can say, “I’m becoming frustrated right now,” is in a much stronger position than the officer who remains unaware of what is driving the response.
When the question changes
Frustration does not automatically produce misconduct, poor decisions or inappropriate force. Human behavior is more complex than that. However, it can affect the conditions under which decisions are made.
When frustration increases, attention can narrow, communication can become less effective and problem-solving options may seem more limited. The desire for an immediate resolution can also increase.
In practical terms, the officer’s internal question may shift from: “What’s the best course of action?” to: “How do I make this situation stop?” That shift matters. The challenge for officers, partners and supervisors is to recognize when it is beginning to occur.
Trigger, reaction, outcome
One of the simplest models for understanding frustration is: Trigger -> Reaction -> Outcome
The trigger is the frustrating event. The reaction is how the officer responds. The outcome is what follows.
Officers rarely control the trigger. A subject’s behavior is often outside their control. The weather is outside their control. Court decisions are outside their control. Traffic and technology failures are outside their control. Department politics may be outside their control.
The reaction remains theirs.
Leadership lives in the reaction. Professionalism lives in the reaction. The outcome often flows from the quality of that reaction.
What’s important now?
Recognizing frustration is only useful if officers have a way to respond to it. One of the simplest tools is WIN: What’s Important Now?
The technique originated with former Notre Dame football coach Lou Holtz and was later adopted by law enforcement trainer Brian Willis, who calls WIN “Life’s Most Powerful Question.” [2,3] Below 100 also incorporates the concept into its officer-safety training. [4]
When frustration rises, attention frequently shifts toward the source of irritation. Asking WIN forces an officer to refocus on priorities:
- Is winning an argument important now, or is safely concluding the encounter?
- Is proving a point important now, or is gathering information?
- Is venting frustration important now, or is maintaining professionalism?
WIN moves attention away from emotion and back to mission.
Controlled breathing can also help create space between a trigger and a reaction. An officer can inhale for four seconds, hold for four, exhale for four and hold for four. No one on the scene has to know it is happening.
Another useful question is: What action would I take if I were calm? That question returns the officer to training, policy and objectives.
Consider the traffic stop again. The officer expected to issue a warning and go home. That expectation disappeared once the warrant was discovered and the driver resisted.
The officer notices the warning signs: muscle tension, shortened communication and the urge to end the encounter immediately. Instead of reacting, the officer asks, “What’s important now?”
The answer is not winning the verbal exchange, proving authority or ending the call quickly. It is safely and professionally handling the arrest. The officer takes a controlled breath, slows communication and returns attention to the problem in front of them.
The trigger remained. The frustration remained. But the officer regained control of the reaction, and that can change the outcome.
When a partner sees it first
Officers are not always the best judges of their own emotional state. Partners and supervisors may notice increased irritability, uncharacteristic sarcasm, rushed communication or an emotional response that does not fit the circumstances.
A simple intervention may help:
- “You good?”
- “Want me to take this part?”
- “Take a breath. I got it.”
These are not accusations or signs that an officer cannot do the job. They are opportunities to interrupt an escalating response and return attention to the mission.
Supervisors should be equally alert. A normally patient officer who suddenly becomes short-tempered, cynical or persistently negative may be communicating frustration long before saying the word.
Good supervisors do not merely investigate outcomes. They identify changes in performance and behavior before those outcomes occur.
Train for the blocked objective
If frustration is a common part of policing, it should be part of police training.
Academies and agencies can build scenarios in which subjects are verbally difficult, technology fails, information changes or unexpected complications arise. Trainers can then evaluate how students adapt, communicate and make decisions when the original plan no longer works.
The debrief is essential. Trainers can ask:
- When did frustration appear?
- What warning signs did you notice?
- How did it affect your thinking or communication?
- What helped you return to the objective?
Field training officers should also discuss emotional responses to calls, not only tactical performance. When a call does not unfold as expected, the FTO can help the trainee identify the blocked objective, recognize the response it produced and consider how to manage it differently the next time.
The goal is not emotional suppression. It is emotional recognition and control.
Every officer will encounter frustrating situations. The question is not whether frustration will appear. The question is whether emotion or training will occupy the driver’s seat when it does.
The objective for law enforcement agencies should be simple: Ensure that an officer’s training is equal to or greater than the emotion being experienced at that moment.
Because when training exceeds emotion, professionalism wins.
References
1. Merriam-Webster. “Frustration.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary.
2. Holtz L. Winning Every Day: The Game Plan for Success. Harper Business; 1998:82.
3. Willis B. Applying ‘What’s Important Now?’ to the Current Crisis in Law Enforcement. Police1. October 20, 2015.
4. Below 100.
About the author
Kevin Rice is a former police officer and Secret Service special agent in charge and has taught at police academies and colleges. He currently oversees corporate security for a Fortune 500 company. He has researched frustration in the law enforcement profession for the past 10 years and recently published “Fractured,” a book on that subject.
