CL STITUTE - New Jersey · 2017-11-08 · listening or that we don't care, they are likely to turn up the volume or intensity of the situation until they do get our attention. Listening

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Instructor Notes-

Welcome, as part of the New Jersey Attorney General's law enforcement Directive#2016 — 5, this training module addresses law enforcement de-escalationtechniques, principles, and strategies.

Instructor Notes-

• Source- Police Res onset De-Escalation Techni ues to Individuals with S eciaJNeeds/Mental Health Issues.

A review of the training is being provided for the instructor in case of a question by astudent so that any answer is consistent with training previously provided by theDivision of Criminal Justice on de-escalation. The instructor will not be required to gointo detail an the "LEAPS" model because it has been previously taught. This instructorshould simply briefly touch upon this slide to reinforce the previous training. The de-escalation training for this presentation is designed to provide additional de-escalationtechniques to build upon the "LEAPS" model.

"L"isten

Stress that human nature is such that if someone distressed feels that we are notlistening or that we don't care, they are likely to turn up the volume or intensity of thesituation until they do get our attention.

Listening is a tactical skill and central to crisis response and crisis negotiation. Learning,practicing and using good listening skills can help the officer defuse many commoncrisis incidents.

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"Seek First To Understand, Then To Be Understood" Listening well is central tounderstanding the person's situation and letting them know that you get it.

Ventilate---stay away from "I understand." You have to stay tuned in and stayconnected. Person in crises has a problem, you must connect.

Review of General Rules

1. Meaning behind words (do not react)2. Be ready to listen3. Pay attention to verbal clues4. Listen to the words content and rate5. Listen to the feelings6. Listen to the whole message7. Listen to breathing rate8. Validate feelings and concerns (when appropriate)9. Allow the subject to ventilate as appropriate10. Respond with positive feedback11. Remain receptive12. Interpret what you hear, and act

"E"mpathize

Like Listening, empathy can be a powerful tactical tool.

Explain the difference between sympathy and empathy:

The words sympathy and empathy are often used interchangeably but they actually represent

two separate frames of mind.

When you experience sympathy, you are simply acknowledging that you feel sorry for aperson's situation.

Empathy, however is much more powerful —and useful —because it involves mentally puttingyourself into another person's circumstances to experience it through their eyes.

Stress that empathy actually requires a degree of emotional courage. Some of the crisissituations you will respond to can be extremely sad or emotionally painful.

Empathy requires a willingness to connect with the pain of others.

Review of General Rules

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1. See the situation through the eyes of the other person2. Show an understanding attitude3. Reassure the subject4. Demonstrate understanding, compassion and caring

■Let the person set the pace and style of interaction.■Express empathy for feelings.■You don't need to agree.■Normalize: "I think I would feel that way too."■Ask, "What do you think?"■Allow the person to talk about experiences and beliefs, but do not force them.

"A" s k

Don't be afraid to ask. Doing with, not to a person.

Review of General Concepts

1. Find out about the purpose and reason behind the behavior2. Remember direct and open ended questions3. Check subject's decision-making capacities

"P"araphrase

Let participants know that paraphrasing and reflective listening work best when you captureboth the emotion and the issue the individual is concerned about.

For example, if an individual in crisis is resistant to going to the Screening Center for anassessment and has explained their fears, the participant might say:

"M r. Smith, it sounds like your really frightened of going back to the hospital."

In this short phrase you can see that officer demonstrated that they understood the personsconcern and emotionally response. This lets the other person know that you are really listeningand truly understand their position.

Use three to five words if possible. Johnny what is going on. I am nervous. Judge hates me."Johnny sounds like you are nervous about court."Bring in emotion and subject matter...."sounds like you are sad/upset/angry about , telme about it or lets see how I can help."

Review of General Concepts

1. Put in words the other person's point of view2. Respond back to the subject with the essence of the message in "your words"

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3. I see...a) Tell me about it...b) Allow speaker to hear what you heardc) Permit listener to confirm his/her inferencesd) Helpful when you are at a loss for wordse) Reflect the feelings you observef) Respond back to the subject the emotions that you

believe are being communicatedg) Reflect meaningh) Respond back to the subject that you understand the

facts and the feelings that are being communicated.

"S"ummarize

Bring it down to something that is natural. We now have something we can talk about it.

Review of General Concepts

Summary of key points

1) Communicate during a crisis2) Recognizing the person in crisis3) Verbal tactics4) Instrumental and expressive needs

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Ilse cover as tactical ~ We become reckless.advantage. ~ pfficer creates jeopardy.Use tactical communication Thrnugh actions, Officerskills to slaw down may escalate situation inescalation to buy time; gain attempt to gain control.tactical advantage; get g Starfis to argue withadditional resources. suspect: general rule, ifAttempt to safely de- you are arguing, youescalade but place yourself have lost control.in pasition fio use force ifnecessary.

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Instructor Notes

• When considering the amount of contacts that officers have with citizens, de-escalation of emotions occurs all the time. It will never be known how manyofficer —citizen deaths, injuries or feelings were affected by the techniques usedby skilled officers in our state and across the country.

• De-escalation does not always work and you may have had such an experience.

• Today's session is not about when it works or doesn't work, it is an affirmationthat there are significant benefits to de-escalation when the situation allows.

• A couple of important issues to be addressed first. The first, is the understandingthat not all situations can be de-escalated. At the point in time when you arrive andthere is a life threatening situation occurring, de-escalation may not beappropriate. The preservation of life takes precedence.

• When a defense of life scenario is present, whether it is yours or anotherindividual, you are authorized and obligated to defend those lives. No one isputting forth the notion that you must potentially sacrifice any person's safety inan attempt to try to de-escalate a situation.

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• On the other hand, when "feasible," you should attempt to de-escalate. We knowfrom use of force training that feasibility means "is it a capable of beingsuccessfully carried out."

• Officers routinely attempt de-escalation techniques by use of their constructiveauthority. We give commands to gain compliance and in gaining compliance wegain control and in doing so situations are often de-escalated. We have "reducedthe intensity of the conflict."

• De-escalation techniques allow officers to recognize the underlying causes of

escalation and defuse these causes before a confrontation gets out-of-hand.

There are numerous benefits to de-escalation training:

• minimizes danger to the officer and the public

improves relations with the community

• decreases the need for arrests

• improves information flow from citizens

• Every citizen encounter is different and unique. In some cases, de-escalating a

situation involves separating fighting parties, while in others all that is required is a

calm conversation. Still others require physical intervention. By learning general

approaches and techniques to avoid escalation and de-escalate any arising tense

encounters, outcomes will be improved drastically.

• For now, just keep in mind that a calm, reasonable approach to communication is the

key to de-escalation.

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Thee Importance of De-Escalatior~ l~echniques.

Every encounter with citizens is different.• in some cases, de-escalating a situation involves separating

fighting parties, while in others ail that is required is a calmconversation. ~ i ~l q ,;~ ~ s~~~~

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and de-escalate any arising tense '~ ~encounters, outeames may beimproved drastically.

A calm, reasonable approach to communication is thekey to de-escalation.

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Instructor Notes

• The primarily mission here is to help prepare you to develop the properunderstanding of the best approaches and techniques for de-escalation. Likewise,

based on these approaches and techniques, you will be able to develop the necessarily

skills to respond better to heated situations and potential confrontations. Usingpractical advice based on research and real-life experiences, you will become moreprepared to de-escalate many more potential hostile situations.

• It is important to understand fully definition of de-escalation. Our experience hasbeen that many officers verbally stumble when asked in depositions or trials todefine the term.

• Law enforcement training tells us that we are not required to retreat or desist. An

exception is embedded in the Attorney General's use of force policy where itstates;

"A law enforcement officer is under no obligation to retreat or desist whenassistance is encountered are threatened. However, a law enforcement officershall not resort to the use of deadly force if the officer reasonably believes thatan alternative to the use of deadly force will avert or eliminate an imminentdanger of death or serious bodily harm, and achieve the law enforcement

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purpose that no increased risk to the officer or another person."

• The above exception is for the purpose of using deadly force. There are otheroccasions where it makes good sense to temporarily retreat or desist such as ifthere is a crowd gathering or the potential exists for a crowd to quickly gather, itwould be smart to wait for backup. If an officer is outnumbered it is smart to waitfor backup. Waiting for backup can be considered a de-escalation technique.

• Jumping in too quickly can result in injuries to the officer and others and possiblyuse of more force than necessary to bring a bad situation under control. Sometimesit makes matters worse. The key question becomes "are law enforcement actionsby me immediately necessary."

• Immediate necessity is a critical component in use of force cases. This was also thefocus of a recent PERF report where eight of 30 guiding principles mentioned de-escalation or discussed aspects of how officers can reduce force by backing off ofsituations "where immediate action is not mandated by law or required for officeror public safety."

Instructor Notes

• Let's look at ways that you can assess your own development to determine thechanges that you need to make to become better at de-escalation.

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Instructor Notes

In preparing to deal with citizens, it is imperative that officers engage in self-assessment to ensure that they are in the right frame of mind to deal with thesituation at hand.

It is important for officers to be aware of the issues that are going on in theirpersonal life (e.g., marital issues, infertility, problems with children) prior to engagingwith citizens who have similar issues. While they may feel a better ability to relateand possibly connect with the citizens, there also exists the potential for increasedreactivity and decreased objectivity. Basically, know yourself and what is going on inyour life.

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Self-Ass~ssrnent.What are my own"button" or issues?

Issues in your ownpersonal life can cloudyour objectivity anr~lorincrease the possibilityof being emotionallyreacfiive when thoseissues are present in thecitizens you serve.

Instructor Notes

• Everyone has weaknesses. When it comes to de-escalation, there are three majorweaknesses that can effect your ability to de-escalate a situation. The first is beingeasily-angered. Controlling one's emotions is crucial during escalatingconfrontations.

• When people are in emotional pain and threatening to create safety issues, whetherin public or in a private setting, law enforcement personnel need to take thesituation very seriously.

• If an officer gives his or her undivided attention to the potential aggressor, thesituation may begin to ease up. When people receive attention, they typically feelvalidated and are less likely to turn violent.

• This type of focus does not only involve verbal cues that indicate what is beingsaid is heard — it also involves eye contact, body language and a calm voice.

• To react, means to "act in return." (Webster's Dictionary). Simply reacting isdetrimental to de-escalation efforts. Being responsive, i.e., evaluating all of thesituational circumstances and "replying" in a manner tactically intended to elicit aparticular result is more likely to resolve conflicts.

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Instructor Notes-

• See State v. Dickey, 152 N.J. 468 (Handcuffing suspect does not by itselfautomatically convert a temporary investigative detention into a full blown arrest.)

*Officer must establish that there were reasonable safety concerns justifying thehandcuffing of the suspect.

*Information includes that suspect is armed, uncooperative which raises thereasonable probability of flight, stop follows a violent crime, information that moreviolence will occur.

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Instructor Notes

While developing oneself personally to best de-escalate situations is important,

developing the skills to conduct a quick and thorough environmental analysis is keyto identifying the points of escalating and defusing them calmly and quickly, whenpossible.

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Instructor Notes-

Safety remains your number one priority. Assessing threats helps ensure your ownsafety and the safety of the public.

• There are various threats faced by officers when attempting to de-escalate asituation.

The most important threat will always be the assailant or armed individual. Suchindividuals pose the greatest danger and strongest threat. When such threats arepresent, de-escalation involves neutralizing the threat by asking the individual todisarm themselves or to immediately stop an on-going assault. In such situations,de-escalation can be quite difficult, but successful de-escalation may mean theavoidance of additional violence and even death.

• Another important threat are highly emotional citizens, especially those who areangry, frustrated, or depressed. Identifying such threats early on will assist you inidentifying the most productive methods of communication in order to removemany of the underlying causes of escalation or apply redirection if applicable.

Additionally, bystanders can serve as disruptors. The same principles of de-escalationapply to such disruptors. A calm approach simply asking the disruptors to walk away

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is important in maintaining a stable operating environment.

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Instructor Notes

Solutions, here, are the end-goals of de-escalation. Identifying how best to reach thesolutions involves being able to answer various questions about the situation.Identifying how those who are angered can be calmed is a good start towards de-escalation. Trying to identify the details surrounding why police intervention wasnecessary is also important. This may require separating individuals for interviewing.

Obtaining more information early on will help you identify the greatest threats and

maintain a continuous and peaceful conversation with individuals who are present.

• Meanwhile, it is important to remember that extracting information can itself cause

anger.

Identifying the best moments to ask questions and in which way to ask them isimportant for preventing escalation.

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How can we et ~Q'~~~Q~~'information withoutcausing angry response?

Asking certain questionsand asking questionsthe wrong way are bothsources of escalation.Questions should beasked with specificpurposes, including toavoid escalation.

Instructor Notes-

While developing oneself personally to best de-escalate situations is important,developing the skills to conduct a quick and thorough environmental analysis is keyto identifying the points of escalating and defusing them calmly and quickly, whenpossible.

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Once the major threats have been cleared or identified, communication channelsbegin opening up. Some individuals may approach you to immediately tell youwhat happened, while others may be reluctant to speak. The first step inestablishing lines of communication is identifying what is going on. Talking tosomeone only to have someone else run off is not a positive outcomes. Thus, aninitial assessment is important. Next, when communicating with citizens present,identifying who is the most emotionally charged will become easier. Suchindividuals, especially when they are angry at others at the location, should beseparated before discussions resume.

• Overall, congenial relations between police and the public make the officer's jobeasier and help citizens feel safer. Conversely, there are a number of differentreactions that citizens typically show in response to their perception of beingignored, abused, or disrespected by the police. They include:

• Apathy —Antagonism: "Why should I report crimes to the police? They don'tcare."

• This reflects general citizen dissatisfaction with police response to their concerns.

• If citizens feel that their good-faith efforts in being the eyes and ears of lawenforcement are rewarded by halfhearted or neglectful follow-up, they will

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naturally be reluctant to report such activity in the future.

If they feel really ignored or abused, this may manifest itself as purposefulnoncooperation: "Get your own information — I'm not telling you anything."

A vicious cycle may then develop where police take this as a sign of deliberatecommunity apathy or scorn — or even collusion with criminals —and thereforerestrict their patrolling activities still further, or become even more inpatient andirritable with citizens

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Instructor Notes

• Part of your job is asking questions, even to those who are eager to give you afull account of what they think is going on at the scene. Questions must beasked with intent and very carefully, to avoid escalation.

• Next, it is important to recognize when prolonging a conversation becomes atechnique to allow everyone to calm down

• Separating everyone is the first part of this solution. Giving everyone sometime to calm down is the second part of this solution.

• Finally, once everyone has given an account, the situation may be reassessedto determine whether there are any lingering threats or sources of possibleescalation in the near future.

• As in any relationship, unwelcome or mildly irksome behavior may be tolerated ifit occurs in the context of basic trust and common purpose. But in the presence ofan already existing tense and adversarial relationship, even seeminglyinconsequential annoyances may be interpreted as signs of deliberate abuse, andsome departments may be flooded with verbal and written complaints, oftenagainst the same officer.

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• On the one hand, this uses up personal resources that might be productivelyallocated elsewhere, on the other hand, a complaint that is registered is at least onedressed. The numerous unrecorded slights and hostilities are far more ominousbecause they are left to fester within a community.

• Verbal confrontations can escalate quickly, such as a citizen saying to an officer"Get out of my face —you can't talk to me that way."

Discourteous officer conduct may lead to verbal confrontations between officersand citizens.

• Often, this represents the outburst of a cumulative buildup of frustration from pastunpleasant interactions on the part of both officer and citizen. At the very least,repeated hostility interactions are grating to the morale of officers and citizensalike.

• At worst they lead to physical confrontations necessitating frequent arrests thatfurther inflame community hostility.

• Physical confrontation: if matters have escalated to this point, verbal conflictresolution strategies can be assumed to have failed —that is, if they been tried atall.

• Even more so than with verbal confrontation, repeated citizen experiences of beingroughed up by the police —even if the arrest started with an assault on the officerby the angry citizen —are corrosive to the morale of patrolling officers and onlyhighlights to citizens the image of the police force as a hostile army of occupation.

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Instructor Notes-

• Allowing a few moments of silence. Officers often use silence duringinterrogations to calm the conversation and allow both parties to digest what isbeing discussed. The same tactic can be used in public situations and is aninfluential part of de-escalation.

• Allow the person to work out his or her own thoughts, problems and actions.Giving him or her time to think through recent events may help calm down asensitive discussion or circumstance.

• Sometimes there is the refrain from officers that I only respect people who respectme. The problem with such a philosophy is it is counterintuitive to the goal of de-escalation.

• You know from your personal work experience that there is a segment of societythat will challenge and disrespect you.

• Such behavior creates a greater challenge to you when dealing with these subjectsas it relates to de-escalation techniques but these are the exact individuals that weare speaking of today.

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Instructor Notes

• Depicted here is a simple process model regarding an officer's interaction with acitizen. This model illustrates how a citizen's behavior affects an officer's attitudewhich in turn affects how the officer responds or behaves which in turn affects acitizen's attitude.

• By way of example, when a law enforcement officer encounters a citizen and thatcitizen is behaving poorly, such as being disrespectful, the officer can reactnegatively which can begin a downward spiral relative to the quality of thecitizen-officer interaction.

• It is important for awell- trained officer to understand this simple dynamic andcontrol or "shape" the citizen's behavior by not getting emotionally caught up inanother's negative behavior. Do not let others control your emotions.

• An interesting aspect of this model is that the interaction can begin anywhere inthe model. For example, an officer is having a bad day and is brusque or rude witha citizen. This affects the attitude of the citizen which may cause the citizen tomanifest a negative set of behaviors. The end result may be a poor qualityinteraction with the citizen when it did not have to be.

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• Attitudes and behaviors of both citizens and law enforcement officers are often theresult of current life circumstances which is part of human nature. As aprofessional law enforcement officer we need to have an awareness of theseconcepts so a poor verbal interaction does not turn into a physical altercation.

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Instructor Notes-

Managing one's own emotions throughout the de-escalation process is arequirement. If even for a second, a burst of anger or frustration occurs, civiliansmay feel intimidated or threated, resulting in fight or flight. To avoid this, alwayskeep in mind how those around you are viewing and interpreting your actions andspeech.

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Instructor Notes

Preparing a contingency plan, or backup plan, in case of escalation is important. Ifa person does turn violent, it's important for law enforcement personnel to handlethe situation with as little force as possible. The officer should stand and face theaggressor at an angle, just in case the individual charges or makes anotherdistinctly violent move, the law enforcement officer can properly sidestep theaggressor and make an arrest.

• Taking the time to speak with someone who feels taken advantage of may preventunfavorable events from unfolding. Communication can be a powerful tool, and athorough discussion aimed at de-escalating the aggressor may prove beneficial foreveryone down the line.

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Instructor Notes-

• Establishing respect means showing respect to civilians and expected respect back.Of course, there will betimes when the respect that you receive back is limited. Thisdoes not mean that escalation is warranted. You never know what people are goingthrough when they have sudden disrespectful outbursts.

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Instructor Notes

An interesting model to emulate regarding de-escalation is that of the hostagenegotiator.

A hostage negotiator's mission is to talk. Talk to a person who is in conflict. Theyattempt to lessen the conflict by way of reasoning with a subject who isunreasonable. They do not get upset when challenged. They do not take thingspersonally. Their end goal is the release of a hostage and the safe "giving up" bythe hostage taker or barricaded subject.

• No matter what transpires during communications the hostage negotiator wants topreserve life. These are the exact same goals of every police officer but onoccasion they are not viewed in the same frame of context.

Instructor Notes

A distinction needs to be made between an authoritativeness approach and anauthoritarianism approach to police intervention. Authoritativeness refers to theofficer using his ar her authority effectively and positively. Authoritarianismrefers to the abuse; of authority fhat one has over others.

• ~f course, the authoritati~reness ~pproa~h is ~Iways preferred and isespecially important when ~ttemp~ing to de-escalate a situation.

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Instructor Notes-

• Paralanguage. If language refers to the verbal content of our speech, thenparalanguage is the message we send by our tone of voice, pitch, inflection, andphrasing.

• Everyone knows that the same literal sentence, example "I'm feeling just fine,"can be expressed and interpreted as a statement or question, as serious or sarcastic,by the style of vocal inflection used. Other paralinguistic features that may beuseful include pauses, stutters, lowering or rising of voice pitch or volume,interjected phrases ("uh," "y'know"), and so on.

Active listening denotes putting conscious effort into a dialogue, which is differentfrom casual conversation.

Giving a citizen your full attention and focus, and indicating your involvementand concern for what he or she is telling you will almost always serve to increasecommunication, trust, and cooperation.

• This can be vitally important in resolving acute crises such as suicide and hostageincidents.

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• Kinesics describes nonverbal, body language aspects of communication, such asfacial expression, gestures, posture, and other physical movements that transmitmessages that either reinforce or contradict the spoken message.

• This aspect of communication is of interest to law enforcement investigators andpoker players alike.

In fact, paralanguage and kinesics are included in training and interview andinterrogation strategies, but are also useful to enhanced medication for everydaycitizen encounters on patrol.

Para verbal Communication

Para verbal communication is often defined as not what we say but how we say it.This is increasingly important when addressing a distressed or overwhelmedindividual who is likely responding more to non-verbal messages than verbalmessages.

• There are four primary elements of Para verbal communication:

1. Volume2. Rate of Speech3. Tone4. Inflection

• It is important to understand and regulate each to ensure that your intendedmessage is understood by the individual in crisis.

It is not uncommon for an upset or overwhelmed individual to speak loudly andforceful during a real or perceived crisis. In order to help calm and focus a distressedStaff Member, it may be helpful to being by speaking a little more loudly that youusually do, and gradually and incrementally lower you volume. This type of techniquecan be used to influence the other party's volume and help guide it to a calmer andmore productive discussion. The central concept is not to attempt to control theother person, but rather to influence them by how you control yourself.

In this instance we have applied that concept to the element of volume.

The same sort of approach can also be used to address rate of speech. Individuals incrisis may speak quickly, adding to a sense of urgency and confusion. In order to helpslow the distressed individual, the Crisis Responder may begin by speaking a littlemore quickly than they usually do, and they gradually and incrementally slow

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themselves in order to influence to the other to slow down as well.

• In this context, the Para verbal element of tone refers to statements that may bemistaken as condescending or sarcastic. While humour can sometimes beaneffective tool to break the ice or lighten the mood, used in crisis situations, theaffected individual may feel that others do not appreciate the seriousness of theirsituation or the degree of their emotional pain. Therefore, it is usually best to avoidusing humour in crisis situations.

Lastly, the Para verbal element of inflection refers to how we may inadvertentlyemphasize a word, phrase or even a syllable in a manner that seems to change theentire meaning of our statement. Remembering that distressed individuals are moreresponse to non-verbal communication than verbal communication, they may readinto the perceived change in your message and arrive at an entire different meanthan you had intended. Be careful with inflection that can alter your verbal messagesand potentially escalate a crisis situation further.

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Unhelpful ~lon-verbal roc ices.

Avoid these non-ver~~l behaviors:

Pointing car shaking y~aur finger

Shru~~in~ `°~~~' i~:;:;:,Cienc~ing your teeth ~~ ~~~~ 4 fSmiling, if you can`t dc~ see ~z ~~~~ : ~~ ~r~~turally

Toucl~ir~g the indiuid~al: Ifneeessary and if possible, ask forpermission 'Firs,

~C nh~e pfiul Ikon-verbal radices.

■ Do not raise your voice or afiter~npt to talk o~rer someonewho is yelling.

Do not tell the person to "calm down,"

Do not get defensive in response to comments or insults.

Qo nit argue with the individual or try to convince himor her.

Do not express judgements about the person's actions orstatements.

Instructor Notes-

• Officers and citizens can each misperceive the actions of one another. This canquickly lead to escalation and even violence. Officers can help prevent escalation bybeing deliberate in all of their actions while interpreting the actions of othersgenerously.

• This is tied into active listening and also confirmation bias.

• Paraphrasing is a powerful tool used in all types of communications. Paraphrasingfor the purpose of this lesson is defined as taking the words an individual says toyou and repeating them back to the person using your words.

• Paraphrasing demonstrates to the individual that you are listening and alsopromotes clarity as to what you think the individual is saying.

• Confirmation bias is actually a block to communication. It is the tendency of theofficer to interpret what another is saying to them as confirmation of one's ownbeliefs.

• For example, you have been to a hundred calls like the one you are on with thecitizen you are dealing with. In your experience these types of calls end the same

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Because of that you really are not listening to the citizen because "you have beenthere before:' Resist jumping to conclusions and hear people out.

The picture presented here shows both a duck and a rabbit. The point of this illusion,is that individuals can interpret the exact same image or action in entirely differentways. It is very important to be clear in your speech and your actions.

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Instructor Notes-

• Yet another dimension of communication is Proxemics, the science of personaland social space.

• In many street interactions, officers intuitively judge the comfort level of theirown and the citizens personal space and adjust their stance accordingly, so as totread a happy medium between standing too distant, which may single unconcernand disrespect, versus being too "in your face," which is typically taken asconfrontational or aggressive.

• Proxemics can further be differentiated into several categories:

• Intimate space extends from actual physical contact outward, from about 6to 18 inches. This is usually the province into which we comfortably allowfriends or close associates.

Personal space continues out from 18 inches to about 4 feet. This is thecomfort zone of most business and personal acquaintances.

• Social space extends the perimeter to about 4 to 12 feet. This is about therange that most strangers feel comfortable interacting within, and which

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will contain most nonconfrontational police encounters on patrol.

• If officers find themselves moving closer during an encounter, it usuallysignals some trouble on their psychological radar.

• Public space includes everything at 12 feet and beyond. Of course, incrowded urban areas it is not uncommon to see individuals physicallyjammed together, yet maintaining psychological distance by focusing ontheir own activities —just think of a crowded bus, subway, elevator, orsupermarket checkout line. This is also known as audience space.

• As with all of these skills, patrol officers who adeptly manipulate interpersonalspace will experience the greatest success in dealing with citizens on their beats.Many officers do this instinctively, but it is a skill that can be learned and refinedwith practice.

• It is also noteworthy that when we are agitated we often get closer to a subject,which is counterintuitive to officer safety but is done based on an emotionalresponse rather than a cerebral response of a tactical nature. We need to be awareof our actions.

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Instructor Notes-

• Physical intimidation is another common cause of violence between citizens andofficers. When officers prematurely engage physically with citizens, there is asignificant risk of escalation.

• Only use physical intervention when it is required.

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• Causes of citizen and officer violence include early or premature detainment.

• Premature orders or physically moves the citizen around. "He could've just askedme to step to the curb, he did not have to shout and push me."

• This goes back to the issue of immediate necessity. What was going on thatrequired immediate instruction from me to the citizen to do or not to dosomething?

• As far as contact goes, remember our AG policy clearly states use of force shouldnever be routine. You will be challenged on this.

• Always ask yourself, "Do I need to touch this citizen to accomplish a lawfulobjective."

• Causes of citizen —officer violence. Humiliates the citizen in public. "If you wantto search me, why couldn't he do it up on my porch instead of out on the sidewalkfor all my neighbors to watch?"

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This concerns itself again with the topic of respect. There may be legitimate safetyconcerns why you could not accommodate such. action that is portrayed on thisparticular slide.

• On the other hand such action may be discretionary on your part.

36

Instructor Notes-

• Now, let's turn to some very specific ways that you can de-escalate confrontations.

37

Instructor Notes-

• Always start with a slow approach, listen carefully, and remain patient.

• Handling a potentially violent episode. Unless there is an emergency, approach thesubject slowly and cautiously,

• Unless there is an "immediate necessity" to engage such as providing safety in theface of an imminent threat to some party, a slow approach is a sound tacticalstrategy.

• Again, working on the basic officer safety principle that time and distance is ourfriend; use the time to approach to your tactical advantage by processing what youare seeing.

• Threat recognition is a foundation of officer safety and any time you are affordedadditional time to recognize potential threats will be a benefit.

• In a sense you are manufacturing time conducting aslow —measured approach.

• Take advantage of self- initiated safety measures if they are available to you.

• Handling a potentially violent episode. Try to size up the situation and analyze thescene as you get closer.

• As articulated on the previous slide, use your approach time wisely.

• Often the recognition of threats or an understanding of what is occurring may notbe so apparent at 30 feet but at 15 feet the event comes into focus.

• You are looking for the behavior of others through their actions and words.

• Once you understand their actions or words you will automatically develop astrategy based on your training and experience.

• Although this sounds very basic intense focus on any individual's actions andbeing fully situationally aware of your surroundings is a skill and as such can bedeveloped further.

• Handling a potentially violent episode. Begin the encounter with tact, patience andrespect.

• First impressions of an event compressed in time are often the only impression acitizen will have of you.

• At times subjects will be prepared for a challenge from you or converselychallenge what you do or say.

• Again, provided the environment is safe, you can disarm people with your manner,demeanor and the words you say and how you say that.

• Be ready for a challenge but be more ready for how you respond.

• Meeting disrespect to you with a greater level of disrespect to the citizen oftenbegins a downward spiral of a human interaction and the result is an escalation ofemotion where control can be quickly lost.

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Instructor Notes-

• Be sure to speak respectfully, continue listening, and ask for cooperation whenrequired.

• Handling a potentially violent episode. Don't play games with a clearly defiantsubject who has no intention of complying.

• As I stated before not everyone's negative behavior can be modified by yourwords or actions.

• There are times when safety is at stake and a subject's behavior requiresimmediate action on your part.

• Do not forsake your own safety or the safety of others in the belief that you canbring calmness to all situations.

• It is certainly a goal but a goal to be obtained within the framework ofreasonableness.

• Handling a potentially violent episode. Allow a few minutes for the subject tocalm down. Allowing some time to pass for a subject to calm down is actually a

41

skill.

• Law enforcement officers are action oriented and having a pause in an interactionis not natural but it is a sound strategy.

• Emotions are not based upon an on and off switch and people need time to comeback to the reality of an emotional event.

• We know this from our personal life experience, being extremely angry one secondand calm the next is not how humans are built.

• Even a command from a law enforcement officer can't override that humanemotion.

• Handling a potentially violent episode. If the subject vents, listen to both thecontent and emotional tone of what is being said.

• Allowing someone to vent serves multiple purposes. Experience has shown thatafter a person expresses themselves at a high emotional state, once said they comeback down from that emotional high, calmness is often restored.

• Don't treat such venting as just "white noise" for you to put up with for a period oftime.

• Use it as an information gathering tool. We are focused today on the concept of asingle topic — de-escalation —but we are law enforcement officers and we areinteracting with an individual or individuals for a reason.

• A crime may have been committed. Listen carefully to gather information that mayassist in any subsequent investigation.

• Handling a potentially violent episode. A nonviolent verbal venting use up energyand adrenaline and also establishes a rudimentary form of communicative bond.

• How many times have you observed this? Individuals "let it all out" and thenbecome silent or exhausted similar to a child who has an outburst and then goes tosleep.

• The rudimentary bond often occurs based on the psychological fact that you arerespectfully allowing the individual to safely act out without interfering with theiremotions.

41

• Handling a potentially violent episode. Caution! Venting should not escalate touncontrolled ranting because the subjects own emotional agitation can be inflamedleading to violence.

• As with so many other aspects of our profession the strategy of allowing one tovent is not an exact science.

• You generally will not know the person you're dealing with when you are safelyallowing them to vent their emotions.

• Based on your training and experience you will need to evaluate when venting hasreached the stage of uncontrolled ranting.

41

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Instructor Notes-

• We are not just smart by our training and expertise, but by how well we handleourselves and each other.

• A few comments concerning emotions. We have generally spoken today abouthow we deal with others who have found themselves in a situation that requiresyour presence. We have talked about a variety of techniques to de-escalatesituations that are out of control or have the potential to become out of control.

• We also need to understand our own emotions. We suffer the same human frailtiesas those we protect and serve. On any given day when responding to a call forservice we can overreact or underreact to the situation that we face.

• Ironically, underreacting can also escalate the situation. Allowing others tocontinue to manifest negative behavior without some measure of control by youcan result in a totally out-of-control situation that will not end well.

• Overreaction is also not our friend. Nationwide there have been police —citizenencounters where law enforcement officers have reacted emotionally rather thanintelligently.

44

• It is a normal human response but one that we need to be very aware of.

• An inappropriate emotional response by an officer taking all of a few seconds candestroy an unblemished career.

• When emotions run high logic runs low. This profession sets the stage for beingemotionally overwhelmed at times. You answer calls where others can't solve theirproblems and some of these problems are significant.

• You do this over and over and over again and at times it can be debilitating.

• Not only is the lack of sleep and improper nutrition a constant concern in thisprofession we are all subject to the other shortcomings in life that affects allhumans.

• Imagine an officer who lacks a proper diet and the appropriate amount of rest. Addinto the equation any one of the following factors;

• poor relationship with a significant other, financial issues, sick or dying familymember(s), personal medical or psychological issues, a child with their own lifechallenges of an extreme nature

• The list could go on and on. Imagine this officer with a number of these issuesweighing them down and responding to a call whereby a citizen presses theiremotional button by disrespectful, threatening or otherwise inappropriate behaviordirected at that officer.

• Could the officer overreact and lash out at such a moment of weakness? Yes.

• Could the officer be any one of us? Yes.

• So we need to use the cognitive tactics of anticipation and crisis rehearsal toenvision situations so that we may better prepare for outright challenges, personalinsults and threats.

• These can be triggers and as such they should be red flags for you to focus on.

• Whenever a challenge, threat or insult comes your way immediately think this is atactic by the other person to get you to act in a manner in which you do notnormally act.

• Don't be goaded or baited into acting out of character.

44

• If we know that this is a tactic by certain individuals then we need to develop ourown tactic of immediately recognizing what is being done and calmly deflectingsuch challenges, threats and insults.

• Communication content and delivery are often key to de-escalation.• Aristotle described methods of using language to persuade: LOGOS - an

appeal to the citizen's sense of logic (this method is least effective with individualsin crisis); PATHOS - an appeal to the citizen's sense of

emotion (relating to or empathizing); and ETHOS — an appeal to the citizen's senseof honesty and/or authority (this is an extremely powerful

method of persuasion, but requires the projection of an undeniably professionalpresence establishing credibility). It is up to you to use

these methods of persuasion based on the circumstances you encounter. Also,allow yourself to consider varying the methods of persuasion

when faced with continued resistance.

44

~~ ~~ ~~

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■ Narr~nai~ze: "i think ~ ~nrould feel~~1~~ 1t1/c~'~t° ~t}~."

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Al~~w the person to talk aboutexperiences and beliefs, buy d+anot ~Qrce th+~rr~. ~.~~n~~~~~

45

Instructor Notes- (references}

Bosse, "I~., & Provaost, ~'. (2014, Jung). 'Towards aggression cic-escalation training with

virtual agents: a computational model. In h~~~~°national C'onfe~~~nc~ on Lec~~^Wing and

C~'ollaboration 7echnolog e,s (pp. 375-387). Springer International Publishing.

Chopko, T3. A. (201.1 }. Walk in balance: trai~~ing crisis intervention team police officers

as conlpassianate warriors. Journal of'Cr•ecctivity in 1Vlentcrl Ilealtl~, ~(4), 315 328.

t~liva, J. R., Mo~~g~~n, R., & Co~~npton, M. T. (201.4). A practical. ove~•view of de-

escalation skills in law enforcement: Hclpi~ig individuals in crisis whip reducing police

li~l~ility and injury. Jou~~f7crl of'Police C.'r°i.sis Ne~otialion.s, 10(1.), 15-29.

Price, O., l~akcr, J., ~3cc, P., &Lovell, K. (2015). Darning and performance outcomes

46

of mental health staff training in de-escalation techniques for the management of

violence and aggression. The BNitish Journal of Psychiatry, 206(6), 447-455.

Spencer, S., &Johnson, P. (2016). De-escalation techniques for managing

aggression. The Cochrane Libr'ar'y.

Miller, Laurence, Dr. (2008). Patrol Psychology 101: Communication and Conflict

Resolution. Retrieved from https://www.policeone.com/health-fitness/articles/1685390-

Patrol- psychology-101-Communication-and-conflict-resolution/

Thompson, George, J. Dr. (n.d.). Retrieved from:

http ://www. ahe, org/ahe/conference/2007/handouts/Fj elstadLeeMANUAL%202007%20

ASHES%20Basic%20w%20Zia%20pages.pdf

!~~

• Cuftur~l Ffc~ency is essential fore~f~c~ive gross-cultural crisiscc~mmunicafiio~.

• Consists ~f:• U~d~rst~nding your cawn cultural

lenses.Understanding eommuni~cationvariation across cultures.

• Applying fihese understandingsto enhance relationships,

. >~;; / yr

~r _ +~ ~ - .

Perception of time.Perception of space.Fate an+~ personal respansibi ty.Importance of paving face end honor.

• ~lonv~rbal ccamrnur~ication: all aspects.• Attitudes and beliefs about mental it Bess.• Atti$ud~s and beliefs about authority figures in

~en~ral end police in specific.

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Psychological First Aid Skills for SchoolCrisis Teams

Instructor Notes-

When someone actively listens to us, we know we are being heard.When they do so with empathy, we know we are valued. When weempathize with others, we acknowledge their feelings without judgingthose feelings.

Psychologicalfirstaid.com 49

Instructor Notes-

Kinesics: Body Language

It is important that messages conveyed non-verbally through body language, such asposture and gestures, support the Crisis Responder's verbal messages. Messagesthat conflict undermine confidence and can seem insincere.

While there is some cultural variation, typically an open and welcoming posturecommunicates warmth and a willingness to help. Eye contact that is soft and positivecan be helpful in connecting us with others, but eye contact that is too intense orunbroken can feel like starring and may be perceived as challenging or judgemental.

50