What do we mean by de-escalation in police-citizen encounters? A scoping review on conceptualization, techniques, and effectiveness

Abstract:This paper aims to support the growing scope of research investigating the effectiveness of de-escalation by police officers. Through a scoping review, we conceptualize de-escalation in police-citizen interactions by identifying the different components of de-escalation, the techniques it entails, and what we know about the effectiveness of these techniques. A comprehensive search of five databases (i.e., Criminal Justice Abstracts, APA PsycInfo, Scopus, Web of Science Core Collection, and International Bibliography of the Social Sciences) yielded 18 studies in the police and public order domain that described at least one de-escalation technique as part of their data. By summarizing and synthesizing the literature, we provide a framework of de-escalation and a detailed overview of all techniques found in the included literature. We conclude that the measures of effectiveness for de-escalation techniques vary, limiting the evidence base of what works de-escalating. We offer suggestions for future research to build upon these results and expand the evidence base on the efficiency of de-escalation techniques, as well as provide directions on how the results can be useful in developing de-escalation training.

Publication year:2025

Accessibility:Open