60 Resource book on the use of force and firearms in law enforcement 4.4.  Early intervention systems In some countries law enforcement agencies make use of a so-called “early intervention system” (also known as the “early warning system”) to identify officers at risk of misconduct, including the use of excessive force, and to provide those officers with appropriate counselling or training in order to correct performance before a situation develops that warrants formal disciplinary action.140 For such a system to be effective, reports of incidents that involved the use of force, and complaints by members of the public, need to be completed and included in the system, in order to allow for an analysis of whether there is a negative pattern in an officer’s conduct, and whether he or she has a higher than average number of incidents involving the use of force or complaints. When such a pattern can be established, supervisors should conduct a review of the person’s performance in order to detect underlying causes, and decide whether intervention is necessary, and, if so what kind of intervention could effectively tackle the problem. Although there are no standard criteria for early intervention systems, a study conducted in 2001 found there was general agreement on factors that help identifying “problem officers”, including citizen complaints, firearm-discharge reports, civil litigation, resisting-arrest incidents, and pursuits and vehicular accidents.141 Being included in an early intervention system appeared to reduce problem behaviours significantly and change the behaviour of both supervisors and identified officers. The true impact of these systems however was difficult to assess as it was typically found to correlate with the agency’s general culture of accountability. The study concluded that “early warning systems can be effective management tools but are only one of many tools needed to raise standards and improve the quality of police services”.142 BRAZIL: INDEX OF APTITUDE FOR THE USE OF FORCE In Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, the police, with the help of the University of Rio de Janeiro, has developed an Index of Aptitude for the Use of Force for each individual police officer, based on information from medical sources, including from mental health professionals and the officer’s past record on use of force.  Under this programme, officers who exceed a certain threshold of consumption of ammunition over the preceding six months and also those who become involved in armed incidents with fatal and non-fatal consequences are to be submitted to a monthly evaluation and training programme, where use of force is re-trained and contention is emphasized. In order to resume their functions, officers will have to be declared apt in medical, psychological and technical evaluations. Officers who, after participating in the course, exceed the threshold of ammunition may be assigned administrative tasks that do not involve the possibility of use of force. Samuel Walker and Carol Ann Archbold, The New World of Police Accountability, Sage Publications, 2014. Samuel Walker, Geoffrey P. Alpert and Dennis J. Kenny, Walker, Early Warning Systems: Responding to the Problem Police Officer, United States National Institute of Justice, July 2001. 142  Ibid. 140   141