Ways of Thinking in a Critical Scenario Simulation

Critical incident policing challenges the cognitive capacities of police officers. This study examines third-year police students’ reported thinking processes during a critical incident simulation, focusing on rumination, characterised by persistent and repetitive dwelling on thoughts, experiences, or personal states. Thematic analysis of interviews with ten participants concluded on three main themes: “Preparatory thoughts”, “tuning into the situation” and “the aftermath”, each encompassing multiple subthemes. Our analysis suggests that differentiating between rumination’s constructive and unconstructive aspects aids in understanding police students’ thinking processes in this context. For the most part, participants reported engaging in constructive facets of deliberate and concrete rumination before and during the exercise. Post-exercise, their thinking became more evaluative and reflective, often focusing on negatively valenced content. Such thinking could potentially lead to both constructive reflection and unconstructive brooding rumination. We propose that police training could benefit from encouraging deliberate and concrete rumination during and reflective rumination after exercises to enhance cognitive preparedness for critical incidents in later duty.