48 Resource book on the use of force and firearms in law enforcement Note that these questions and considerations should always be taken into account before getting into action. There can be months of pre-planning in the case of an international conference where protests are anticipated; just hours when an incident presents itself unexpectedly; or even mere minutes as when answering calls for assistance during patrols. Even when there is very little time, law enforcement officials should be trained to automatically analyse information about the incident and consider various response scenarios. The underlying idea is that there are always moments of choice, where the law enforcement official(s) involved can choose if and how to respond, and they must make sure to make effective use of these moments, in order to respond appropriately and minimize risk for themselves, the subject of the law enforcement operation and others, including any third persons present at the scene. PROPER PLANNING TO AVOID “SPLIT-SECOND SYNDROME” Police-citizen encounters are transactional events, with each participant making decisions and responding to the decisions of the other. As a result, use of force by a police officer is the culmination of a series of earlier actions and reactions. However, reviews of incidents involving the use of force frequently ignore earlier stages of an encounter and focus entirely on the final-frame decision, called the “split-second syndrome”. It has been argued that such narrow focus excuses unnecessary violence resulting from poor decisions made by officers at earlier stages of the encounter.a In this sense, see also the Police Executive Research Forum (PERF), “Re-Engineering Training on Police Use of Force” (2015).b a J.J. Fyfe, “Split-second Syndrome and Other Determinants of Police Violence, Critical Issues in Policing: Contemporary Readings, pp. 465-479, 1989; Roger G. Dunham and Geoffrey P. Alpert, eds.: https://www.ncjrs.gov/App/publications/abstract. aspx?ID=114687 b See Police Executive Research Forum (PERF), 2015, p. 9. In situations of planned operations, and where considerable numbers of staff are to be deployed under a command structure, the tactical command level is responsible for preparing a tactical plan for how to approach that particular situation. It is good practice for the agency to establish a policy that specifies the required elements for a tactical plan; this information should also be readily accessible to operational commanders who may be required to pull together a plan for response to an unanticipated incident. An effective planning system enables the management to coordinate resources and issue directions and commands to them. • It allows for the preparation of orders and instructions based on which the operational plan can be developed and executed. • It entails orders that are used to disseminate information and delineate responsibilities during the planning and different phases of the actual operation. • The plan needs to be based on the legal framework governing the agency’s functioning, its policies, code of ethics, lessons learnt (review of previous incidents in which force was used) and other guidance in order to ensure it is not developed in isolation. When developing the tactical plan, questions about how to prevent the likelihood of recourse to use of force, and, if necessary to use, minimize force, should be addressed. Due caution needs to