Influences on Decision Making in An Garda Síochána

Police officers make decisions every day to enforce the law and keep people safe. There are many elements that affect their decisions, such as legislation, organisational factors, and decision making styles i.e. intuitive and analytical. Previous research has been conducted to investigate decision making in policing environments however, there are no studies that concentrate on the Irish Police Force. Therefore, the aim of this study is to identify how police officers make decisions in An Garda Síochána. Method: Members of An Garda Síochána were recruited via convenience sampling (N = 9). Participants ages ranged from 38-58 years (M = 47.88, SD = 5.15) and their years of service ranged from 18 -38 years (M= 26.44, SD =5.33). Semi-structured interviews were carried out with each participant. Questions were related to decision made in a policing environment. The data was analysed in compliance with Braun and Clarke’s (2006) six phases of thematic analysis. Results: Four main themes and two subthemes were identified: (i) Intuition and Analytical reasoning, (ii) Ethical Factors (core beliefs and conscientiousness) (iii) Situational factors (iv) Organisational & External Factors. Conclusions: Decision Making is a combination of many factors and these factors overlap. Participants appeared to use their intuition initially, next analyse their judgment while encompassing their own ethical beliefs, the behaviour of an individual, and organisational implications