1500 WORD piece of National decision model PDF

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essay notes about the national decision making model 2021. Looking into how it works and the way in which the police use it....

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Having applied the NDM to chosen problems, critically evaluate whether it is fit for purpose in the police service

In this report I intend to accurately critically evaluate specific situations that I have applied the National Decision-Making Model (NDM) to and dissect the ‘spinning wheel’ process to explain how I reached certain decisions. I will critically evaluate the decisions I made by accessing how I applied appropriate ethical and lawful rationale to reach those decisions, whilst considering what police powers I am able use whilst ensuring every decision was made with the code of ethics in mind. The report will demonstrate a comparison between two different situations that the NDM was applied to during my course of training, displaying different application to the NDM. I will also be discussing reflective thoughts I had on my decisions and evaluate whether I think the NDM is fit for purpose in the police service. As a police officer the NDM is modelled and integrated into every aspect of the job. ‘In every case the elements of the NDM stay the same, but users decide for themselves which questions and considerations they apply at each stage’. (Northamptonshire Police, 2021). Police officers and policing staff from constables to chief constables, are using the NDM to make important decisions around the way we work as new information is fed through to us at any given time, this may change or alter the decisions we make and how we choose to proceed. ‘The NDM puts the Code of Ethics at the heart of all police decision making. This distinguishes the NDM from other decision-making models and

recognises the need for all police decisions to be consistent with the principles and standards of behaviour set out in the Code’ (College of Policing, 2021, 2.1). As all police officers are expected to uphold the Code of Ethics or the values that their own force have, the model becomes a vital part of every police officers’ job. The first part of this report will focus on a situation I was faced with during a training scenario. Information presented to me by the victim meant that I would be conducting a powers of entry scenario in which I had to enter a vehicle to make an arrest on a male who was suspected of robbery. As response officers are only given a certain amount of information before attending an incident, it becomes instinctive to start working your way around the NDM, gathering as much information and intelligence as possible before arriving at the scene. Using all the information I could have gathered at that moment in time, I moved onto accessing any possible threats that might occur whilst attempting to carry out my arrest. This then jump-started the necessity to begin developing my working strategy which is always subject to change. On approaching the car and attempting to make conversation with the suspect, it became clear to me that the suspect was not going to be cooperative with my requests. As a police officer I will always seek the cooperation of people whether that be victim/suspect or witness, in this case I began to engage in conversation and told the suspect direct commands which he was not following. As a contingency I had to begin to think of what powers and policies I had to detain this male for the offence he was suspected of. I began to go through my 5-step appeal with the suspect and stated if there was anything, I could reasonably do to seek his cooperation, there was not and therefore I escalated my response and sought to use my section 17 powers of entry for an indictable offence. Once I entered the vehicle and arrested the male under section 32 of pace, I then

searched the vehicle under the same section, this enabled me to find the stolen item and recover the property. Legislation government UK (2021) states that “a constable may enter and search any premises for the purpose of arresting a person for an indictable offence”. Initially I was doubting myself as the suspect was commenting how I was acting in an unlawful manner, however because of the NDM I was confident using my powers and policy in order to deal with this incident effectively and lawfully. Legislation government UK (2021) “states that section 117 of the police and criminal evidence act gives power to a constable to use reasonable force”. I was confident that I had multiple powers to support me in the arrest. The NDM helped me through a difficult process whilst allowing me to maintain control of the situation. I used the NDM to ensure that I performed my duty to best of my ability. The second situation I will be discussing is a Mr Fists scenario I was involved in during my officer safety training week. We were given limited information around an altercation taking place outside of a nightclub on a busy Saturday night. We were made to run for 2 minutes and then told to deal with the situation in front of us. On arrival there was a male on the floor being physically assaulted by another male stood over him, kicking him in the head. In this moment, I acted straight away, using force to take the male to the floor with the support of my partner using her parva. After a struggle on the floor with the suspect, we gained control quickly and were able to handcuff the suspect safely. In a situation like this, I didn’t have time to consider the NDM as I felt that I need to act fast. As there was danger to life as the male on the floor was injured. I immediately shot to action whilst still unconsciously considering the powers and policies I had to use force on the male aggressor. I did not inform my partner on what I was doing, I just acted. “In a fast-moving incident, the

police service recognises that it may not always be possible to segregate thinking or response according to each phase of the model. In such cases, the main priority of decision makers is to keep in mind their overarching mission to act with integrity to protect and serve the public” (College of Policing, 2021, 1). After the situation had finished, myself and my partner had a critical discussion around what happened and how we thought we handled it. One of the most significant parts of the NDM is the ability to reflect and review the decisions that you made, which is a critical evaluation. This can be done straight after the incident with your partner, with your supervisor or anyone you feel could help dissect that positives or negatives of the situation and how you handled it. Both situations I have discussed in this report are different from one another. A lot of the differences come from time, yet the NDM is still used and followed regardless of whether it was before, during or after the incident. I think for the NDM to be utilised to the best of its ability it would be best used by neighbourhood policing, who have a bit more time to think about the whole process. I believe for intervention when decisions are time pressured or the risk escalates so quickly, we focus on securing the risk first, using which ever power to that that, whether that be detains/ arrests and think about contingencies after that. With society becoming so much faster past and resources being stretched, sometimes you don’t have the units to suit most preferred contingency, so you have you to work with what you have. The national decision-making model is embedded within every police officer without them realising. It enables police officers to make the most rationale and lawful decisions under pressure. Every rank in the force uses the NDM from

constables on the ground to chief inspectors in the office. I will work with a wide range of communities which means that my service will change from working with a 14-year-old missing person at risk of CSE, to a 70-year-old victim of fraud, to a rapist or a murder. Due to the raw circumstances my service, my decision making will adapt appropriately. In certain situations, we will know what morally incorrect and as compassionate human beings is, we desperately want to do something to help, however we do not have the powers or policies to do anything about it there and then, therefore we information share in order to inform the correct agencies for external support via people who are best placed. As circumstances change so quickly in the police, we rely on that process to constantly evaluate the risk to not only the community we serve but to ourselves and our colleagues. The national decision-making model is a process that is not built upon any type of bias, it adheres to the Code of Ethics which ensures decisions are made impartially and above all, fairly, which makes the national decision-making model fit for police purpose.

References

College of Policing. (2021) The national decision making model. [Online]. Available at https://www.app.college.police.uk/app-content/national-decisionmodel/the-national-decision-model/ (Accessed 3 November 2021)

Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984, c. 17. Available at: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1984/60/section/17 (Accessed 3 November 2021)

Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984, c. 117. Available at: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1984/60/section/117 (Accessed 3 November 2021)

Northants Police. (2021) Code of Ethics. [Online]. Available at https://www.northants.police.uk/SysSiteAssets/media/downloads/northamptons hire/about-us/code-of-ethics-booklet.pdf (Accessed 3 November 2021)....