Att agera på studs: En kvalitativ intervjustudie hos Polismyndigheten om gruppchefers beslutsfattande i kritiska situationer

Sammanfattning

This qualitative interview study explores how group leaders within the Swedish Police Authority experience and reason in their decision making in critical situations. Contemporary policing is characterized by increasing complexity, time pressure, and uncertainty, where decisions must often be made with limited information and under high risk. While previous research has largely focused on performance outcomes and formal decision models, less attention has been paid to how police leaders themselves understand and reflect on their decision making in practice. The aim of the study is to describe and analyze how police group leaders perceive their decision making during critical incidents, with particular attention to leadership and the role of reflection. Six semi-structured interviews were conducted with group leaders in Region South of the Swedish Police Authority. The data was analysed using a thematic approach within a hermeneutic and abductive framework. The findings show that decision making in critical situations is shaped by experience, situational awareness, and intuitive pattern recognition, rather than formal analytical models. Leadership is described as situational and relational, involving both directive and supportive elements depending on context. Reflection, especially through collective debriefings and dialogue within the group, emerges as a key mechanism for learning and the development of professional judgement. Such reflective practices can transform experience into knowledge that supports future decision-making under pressure. The study highlights the importance of creating organisational conditions that support reflection and learning in operational police work. It also suggests that understanding how group leaders themselves experience decision making can provide valuable insights for leadership development, training, and organisational learning within high risk and complex environments. Further research could deepen this understanding by combining interviews with observations of decision-making in real life critical situations. Keywords: Decision-making, Leadership, Reflection, Experiential learning, Intuition, Experience, Critical situations.