What is situational awareness, and why is it important?

Answer 1

Situational Awareness is the number one thing officers need to be using every moment they are out on the job, and off duty at times as well. A Colonel in the US Military named Cooper developed what is considered the awareness spectrum. The original design was compiled of 4 colors.

Condition White: When in this level of awareness, an individual is not paying attention to his or her surroundings. They may be listening and participating in conversation, but not to the level of considering it to be active. The only time an officer would want to be in this condition (just one example), would be if the officer arrived home after a shift. They could hang up their equipment, sit down on the couch with the dog at their feet, and watch some television. That would be an example of someone being in condition white.

Condition Yellow: Let's say an officer is off-duty, and they are headed to the store. The moment the officer leaves their residence, they are immediately going in condition yellow. They are actively paying attention to their surroundings, keeping their head on a swivel, but not in a hyper vigilant manner, just paying attention as a whole. In this example, let's say the officer goes to eat lunch. They would be eating lunch in condition yellow. They are simply paying attention to their surroundings.

Condition Orange: In this condition, one would be actively paying attention to their surroundings. Our officer has sat down to grab lunch. Many would say the officer should be able to relax and go to condition white, so the person can remain calm and enjoy their meal, but that's not the case. The officer would be paying attention while eating. Their head is still on a swivel, because they are aware of their surroundings and everything happening around them. Let's say two tables away from where the officer is eating, a loud argument breaks out. The officer would shift from condition yellow to condition orange. Orange is hyper vigilant because they are truly focused on one thing happening. Their head was on a swivel, but then the arguing started, and the officer's immediate attention has now shifted to the arguing.

Condition Red: In this condition, there would be a shift from orange to red. The officer was in condition orange when he heard the loud verbal argument happening a few seats away. Let's say the officer witnesses someone begin to throw a punch during the argument. The officer would immediately go into condition red. Red is when they are actively involved with something, doing something. They are actively engaging in either making an arrest, or breaking up the altercation.

Some argue that a fifth color exists, that being condition black. This is a very bad condition to be in. This is a complete breakdown of awareness, sort of like blacking out. Forgetting what to do, or freezing up is another way to word it. I like to use the term vapor lock, where for a few seconds, or moments, there is hesitation with how to react. Condition black is when someone is more likely to be injured or worse, killed.

Having a heightened level of situational awareness is vital and the key to making sure an officer is able to go home at the end of the shift. Officers must be able to shift rapidly across all colors of the spectrum at any given moment. Every situation has a certain level of awareness, making sure we are on the right one at the right time is the key to success.