Study 1: Evaluation of the Integrating Communications, Assessments and Tactics (ICAT) Training with the Indianapolis Metro Police Department (IMPD)

The research team evaluated ICAT de-escalation training that was being delivered to IMPD’s approximately 1,700 sworn officers from 2022 to 2023. This study serves as the first replication study of the seminal study of ICAT training with the Louisville Metro Police Department (see Engel, Corsaro, Isaza, & McManus, 2022). Three waves of an officer training survey – pre-training, post-training, and follow-up – were administered to all sworn IMPD personnel to examine changes in officer attitudes, perceptions, and self-reported skill use. In addition to the three training surveys, the research team administered a supervisor survey to all first-line supervisors at the IMPD. This survey was designed to assess general perceptions of the role of supervisors and, more specifically, supervisors’ views regarding how and when they supervise and/or reinforce the ICAT training. The research team also employed focus groups with officers and supervisors to contextualize ICAT training impacts.

The research team analyzed a series of behavioral outcome data through the use of a stepped wedge randomized controlled trial (RCT) design. A stepped wedge RCT is a type of crossover design that allows for geographic “clusters” (in this study, police districts) to begin as no-intervention control groups, after which individual clusters are randomly selected at pre-planned time points to cross over permanently from the control group to the intervention (i.e., trained) group. Thus, at the end of the study period, all clusters will have crossed over to the intervention group (i.e., received ICAT training). This design allows for an experimental comparison between IMPD districts receiving the intervention and districts clusters receiving “treatment as usual” while awaiting crossover to the treatment group.

Study 2: Evaluation of De-escalation Through Tactical Communication (DTC) Training with the Cincinnati Police Department (CPD)

Through this study, the research team examined the impacts of DTC training on changes in officers’ confidence, attitudes, and beliefs throughout the delivery of this course. The DTC training is a total of 12 hours divided into three 4-hour “phases” of training delivered across one year (rather than a single 12-hour training given on two consecutive days). This research design relied on two primary methods. First, the research team used a repeated measures comparison of survey responses across the phases of DTC training. A follow-up survey was also administered to officers 4 to 6 months after training was complete. The surveys were designed to measure changes in officers’ perceptions, attitudes, and confidence due to training.

Additionally, the research team examined the differing impacts of the DTC training phases on CPD behavior outcomes (use of force incidents), including changes to the frequency of events, severity of events, and severity of officer/citizen injuries. These outcomes were measured through interrupted time series analysis.

Study 3: Case Study Examining of the Use of De-escalation Tactics in the Field with the Oklahoma City Police Department (OKCPD)

OKCPD is one of only a few agencies that systematically captures and evaluates the use of officers’ de-escalation tactics and skills for every use of force incident, and OKCPD has captured this data since 2017. An initial review of these data showed that all of the information pertaining specifically to de-escalation tactics was recorded in documents that can only be hand-coded. The research team hand-coded over 2,200 de-escalation reports to construct a multivariable database. Within this database, the research team also coded information from the use of force reports (i.e., officer and citizen injuries, types of force used, mental health assessments of citizens, the maximum level of citizen resistance, age, race, and gender of both citizens and officers).

The purpose of the database was to link how the de-escalation components a) occur (in frequency) in real-world situations where force is used, and b) whether the de-escalation components correspond with different types of force, different citizen resistance, and injuries to officers and citizens. Descriptive statistics, bivariate analyses, and multivariate regressions were also conducted to understand these broader research questions posed. This is the first study of its kind to assess de-escalation tactic frequency in the field, whether they correlate with different use of force outcomes, and the benefits and challenges of de-escalation in practice.