Crimbrary

A Cop's In-born Ability to Multitask Impacts Decision to Shoot, Researcher Says

A series of police shootings of unarmed black men in the U.S. triggered research into the minds of officers that, according to a lead researcher, is relevant to any community struggling to understand a controversial police shooting.

To a Canadian policewoman who was shot, that research is important ammunition in the argument that officers’ mental health must be protected.

Heather Kleider-Offutt, chair of Cognitive Sciences in the psychology department at Georgia State University, began studying the working memory of police officers in shooting situations because of social “upheaval” in Atlanta over police shootings.