John Jay Hall

Pulling the Trigger on the Amygdala John Jay Hall

This book is part of a continuing process to inform the public about systemic issues within law enforcement and to question whether the actions taken are correcting the problem. While the majority of police officers do an outstanding job, there are some officers whose judgment is questionable in police shooting and use of force incidents. This book is concerned with how can neuroscience be used to establish a fear threshold for shooting and use of force incidents. It examines the role of the amygdala as a driving force in responding to fear. The book highlights the difficult job that police officers have in coping with their fears for personal safety, juxtaposed against a myriad of departmental policies. As a law enforcement practitioner for 30 plus years, I understand their fears. However, some shooting are questionable and avoidable. It is this concern for which the book was written. Does the explanation that "I was in fear of my life" justify all police shooting? This practitioner believes not and suggest that neuroscience training can improve how officers manage their fears and can possibly reduce police shooting. This practitioner believes that understanding how the brain works in the survival mode can be utilized by both police and citizens. For police, domestic violence situations are one of police officers deadliest encounters. Therefore, neuroscience training can be provided to police during in-service training and to citizens during police outreach initiatives. In conjunction with neuroscience training, this author also includes formerly prescribed holistic training in TA, EI, Covey's talking stick, procedural justice, and system thinking as self development strategies. These strategies are suggested based on the premise that change begins from the inside out and when people feel better they act better. Hopefully, this book will start a dialogue on the importance of neuroscience training for police officers and citizens and culminate into an academy course.