De-Esculation

ORDER NOW

This powerpoint will be utilized to assist Police to learn how to de-esculate situations. I would like to emphasize communication and listening that is very important. With the way society is changing wee need to have police learn to react appropriately, according to the law, and respectfully to the citizens. I have 31 existing powerpoint that give you and "idea" of which direction to go, but would live to see a much more professional job. The person who was supposed to do this failed to cite correctly and it really is just very boring. Im also looking for any suggestions to make it more lively.

Slide #1

• Welcome, as part of the New Jersey Attorney General’s law enforcement Directive #2016 – 5, this training module addresses law enforcement de-escalation techniques/principles/strategies.
• 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 many officer – citizen deaths, injuries or feelings were affected by the techniques used by 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 affirmation that when a situation allows for de-escalation it shall be attempted.
• The concept of de-escalation should be viewed as an officer safety issue. As I am sure every officer here knows career ending injuries are not a goal that we desire to be a part of.
• That being said,actions on our part to avoid physical struggles when possible make for good common sense. When going into a situation with the mindset of bringing a conflict under control without becoming physical allows all of us to reach our goal of our personal safety and the safety of others in the immediate environment.

Slide #2

• To better understand the issue of de-escalation let’s define the opposite term first. Escalation is a rapid increase or a rise. An increase in the intensity or seriousness of something. An intensification. In this case we are talking about emotions.

Slide #3

• Conversely the definition of de-escalation is; reduce the intensity of the conflict or potentially violent situation.
• A couple of important issues; one is the understanding that not all situations can be de-escalated. At the point in time when you arrive and there is a life threatening situation occurring, de-escalation may not be appropriate. The preservation of life takes precedence.
• When a defense of life scenario is present, whether it isyours or another individual, you are authorized and obligated to defend those lives. No one is putting forth the notion that you must potentially sacrifice any person’s safety in an attempt to try to de-escalate a situation.
• On the other hand, when “feasible,” you should attempt to de-escalate. We know from use of force training that feasibility means “is it a capable of being successfully carried out.”
• Officers routinely attempt de-escalation techniques by use of their constructive authority. We give commands to gain compliance and in gaining compliance we gain control and in doing so situationsare often de-escalated. We have “reduced the intensity of the conflict.”
• Know the definition of de-escalation. Our experience has been that many officers verbally stumble when asked in depositions or trials to define the term.
Slide #4

• 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 it states;

“A law enforcement officer is under no obligation to retreat or desist when assistance is encountered are threatened. However, a law enforcement officer shall not resort to the use of deadly force if the officer reasonably believes that an alternative to the use of deadly force will avert or eliminate an imminent danger of death or serious bodily harm, and achieve the law enforcement purpose that no increased risk to the officer or another person.”

• The above exception is for the purpose of using deadly force. There are other occasions where it makes good sense to temporarily retreat or desist such as if there is a crowd gathering or the potential exists for a crowd to quickly gather, it would be smart to wait for backup. If an officer is outnumbered it is smart to wait for backup. Waiting for backup can be considered a de-escalation technique.
• Jumping intoo quickly can result in injuries to the officer and others and possibly use of more force than necessary to bring a bad situation under control. Sometimes it makes matters worse. The key question becomes “are law enforcement actions by me immediately necessary.”
• Immediate necessity is a critical component in use of force cases. This was also the focus 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 of situations “where immediate action is not mandated by law or required for officer or public safety.”

Slide #5

• Managing emotion. When people are in emotional pain and threatening to create safety issues, whether in public or in a private setting, law enforcement personnel need to take the situation very seriously.
• If an officer gives his or her undivided attention to the potential aggressor, the situation may begin to ease up. When people receive attention, they typically feel validated and are less likely to turn violent.
• This type of focus does not only involve verbal cues that indicate what is being said is heard – it also involves eye contact, body language and a calm voice.
Slide #6

• Listening without judgment. It’s important, when attempting to keep a person civil, to remove any impulse to pass judgment from the equation.
• If the unruly person is speaking incoherently or having a mental episode of some kind, law enforcement personnel should not react in a condescending way. Learning to be nonjudgmental can help defuse any unfavorable event.
• It is important to understand that all people have crisis in their life at some point in time and at that particular point you may be involved. Challenging life circumstances happen to people from all walks of life to include our own.

Slide #7

• Allowing a few moments of silence. Officers often use silence during interrogations to calm the conversation and allow both parties to digest what is being discussed. The same tactic can be used in public situations and is an influential 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 a sensitive discussion or circumstance.

Slide #8

• Preparing a backup plan. If a person does turn violent, it’s important for law enforcement personnel to handle the situation with as little force as possible. The officer should stand and face the aggressor at an angle, just in case the individual charges or makes another distinctly violent move, the law enforcement officer can properly sidestep the aggressor and make an arrest.
• Taking the time to speak with someone who feels taken advantage of may prevent unfavorable events from unfolding. Communication can be a powerful tool, and a thorough discussion aimed at de-escalating the aggressor may prove beneficial for everyone down the line.

Slide #9

• Overall, congenial relations between police and the public make the officer’s job easier and help citizens feel safer. Conversely, there are a number of different reactions that citizens typically show in response to their perception of being ignored, abused, or disrespected by the police. They include:

• Apathy – Antagonism: “Why should I report crimes to the police? They don’t care.”
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 law enforcement are rewarded by halfhearted or neglectful follow-up, they will naturally be reluctant to report such activity in the future.

• If they feel really ignored or abused, this may manifest itself as purposeful noncooperation: “Get your own information – I’m not telling you anything.”

• A vicious cycle may then develop where police take this as a sign of deliberate community apathy or scorn – or even collusion with criminals – and therefore restrict their patrolling activities still further, or become even more inpatient and irritable with citizens
• Formal complaints: “That’s it, I’m filing a complaint.” Disrespected citizens may channel their frustrations into written complaints against officers.

• As in any relationship, unwelcome or mildly irksome behavior may be tolerated if it occurs in the context of basic trust and common purpose. But in the presence of an already existing tense and adversarial relationship, even seemingly inconsequential annoyances may be interpreted as signs of deliberate abuse, and some departments may be flooded with verbal and written complaints, often against the same officer.

• On the one hand, this uses up personal resources that might be productively allocated elsewhere, on the other hand, a complaint that is registered is at least one dressed. The numerous unrecorded slights and hostilities are far more ominous because they are left to fester within a community.
• Verbal confrontation: “Get out of my face – you can’t talk to me that way.”
Discourteous officer conduct may lead to verbal confrontations between officers and citizens.
• Often, this represents the outburst of a cumulative buildup of frustration from past unpleasant interactions on the part of both officer and citizen. At the very least, repeated hostility interactions are grating to the morale of officers and citizens alike.
• At worst they lead to physical confrontations necessitating frequent arrests that further inflame community hostility.

• Physical confrontation: if matters have escalated to this point, verbal conflict resolution strategies can be assumed to have failed – that is, if they been tried at all.
• Even more so than with verbal confrontation, repeated citizen experiences of being roughed up by the police – even if the arrest started with an assault on the officer by the angry citizen – are corrosive to the morale of patrolling officers and only highlights to citizens the image of the police force as a hostile army of occupation.

Slide #10

• Sometimes there is the refrain from officers that I only respect people who respect me. 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 society that will challenge and disrespect you.
• Such behaviorcreate a greater challenge to you when dealing with these subjects as it relates to de-escalation techniques but these are the exact individuals that we are speaking of today.

Slide #11

• An interesting model to emulate regarding de-escalation is that of the hostage negotiator.
• A hostage negotiator’s mission is to talk. Talk to a person who is in conflict. They attempt to lessen the conflict by way of reasoning with a subject who is unreasonable. They do not get upset when challenged. They do not take things personally. Their end goal is the release of a hostage and the safe “giving up” by the hostage taker or barricaded subject.
• No matter what transpires during communications the hostage negotiator wants to preserve life. These are the exact same goals of every police officer but on occasion they are not viewed in the same frame of context.

Slide #12

• Law enforcement styles. Authoritative – defined as commanding and self-confident; likely to be respected and obey it.
• So here we have as an example Sheriff Andy Griffith.

Slide #13

• Another law enforcement style with the same root word is authoritarianism which is defined as; the enforcement or advocacy of strict obedience to authority at the expense of personal freedom, lack of concern for the wishes or opinions of others.
• Actually we could use Barney Fife as that example but in this case I’ve decided to be more contemporary and use Cartman.
• We are looking to be the Authoritative leader.
Slide #14

• Paralanguage. If language refers to the verbal content of our speech, then paralanguage is the message we send by our tone of voice, pitch, inflection, and phrasing.
• 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 be useful 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 different from casual conversation.
• Giving a citizen your full attention and focus, and indicating your involvement and concern for what he or she is telling you will almost always serve to increase communication, trust, and cooperation.
• This can be vitally important in resolving acute crises such as suicide and hostage incidents.
• Kinesics describes nonverbal, body language aspects of communication, such as facial expression, gestures, posture, and other physical movements that transmit messages that either reinforce or contradict the spoken message.
• This aspect of communication is of interest to law enforcement investigators and poker players alike.
• In fact, paralanguage and kinesics are included in training and interview and interrogation strategies, but are also useful to enhanced medication for everyday citizen encounters on patrol.

Slide #15

• Yet another dimension of communication is Proxemics, the science of personal and social space.
• In many street interactions, officers intuitively judge the comfort level of their own and the citizens personal space and adjust their stance accordingly, so as to tread a happy medium between standing too distant, which may single unconcern and disrespect, versus being too “in your face,” which is typically taken as confrontational or aggressive.
• Proxemics can further be differentiated into several categories:
• Intimate space extends from actual physical contact outward, from about 6 to 18 inches. This is usually the province into which we comfortably allow friends or close associates.
• Personal space continues out from 18 inches to about 4 feet. This is the comfort zone of most business and personal acquaintances.
• Social space extends the perimeter to about 4 to 12 feet. This is about the range that most strangers feel comfortable interacting within, and which will contain most nonconfrontational police encounters on patrol.
• If officers find themselves moving closer during an encounter, it usually signals some trouble on their psychological radar.
• Public space includes everything at 12 feet and beyond. Of course, in crowded urban areas it is not uncommon to see individuals physically jammed together, yet maintaining psychological distance by focusing on their own activities – just think of a crowded bus, subway, elevator, or supermarket checkout line. This is also known as audience space.
• As with all of these skills, patrol officers who adeptly manipulate interpersonal space 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 refined with 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 emotional response rather than a cerebral response of a tactical nature. We need to be aware of our actions.

Slide #16

• There appear to be two major kinds of circumstances in which officers are assaulted. First is a citizen’s perception of the initial verbal encounter as unnecessarily demeaning.
• Remember it is the citizen’s perception. Even if you began the encounter and textbook fashion, the individual, for a variety of reasons, may perceive it differently.
• It is not necessarily how you did it, it’s the individual’s perception that you now must deal with.

Slide #17

• Causes of citizen – officer violence. These include: uses derogatory or disrespectful language or tone of voice. “He talked to me like I was a dog.”
• This goes back to the concept of respect. This is heard all the time from individuals who feel this way.

Slide #18

• Causes of citizen – officer violence. Is physically intimidating: “he just got right up into my face.”
• So the slide is about something we addressed before on the topic of proxemics. Ironically, if the tactical mind was at work and we sensed anger, frustration, and noncompliance, we should take a step back. Time and distance are always our tactical friends.

Slide #19\

• Causes of citizen – officer violence. Does not want to consider the citizens side of the story. “He didn’t ask me anything, he didn’t listen, he just assumed I did something wrong.”
• This is tied into active listening and also confirmation bias.
• Paraphrasing is a powerful tool used in all types of communications. Paraphrasing for the purpose of this lesson is defined as taking the words an individualsays to you and repeating them back to the person using your words.
• Paraphrasing demonstrates to the individual that you are listening and also promotes clarity as to what you think the individual is saying.
• Confirmation bias is actually a block to communication. It is the tendency of the officer to interpret what another is saying to them as confirmation of one’s own beliefs.
• For example, you have been to a hundred calls like the one you are on with the citizen you are dealing with. In your experience these types of calls end the same way.
• Because of that you really are not listening to the citizen because “you have been there before.” Resist jumping to conclusions and hear people out.

Slide #20

• Causes of citizen – officer violence. Prematurely orders or physically moves the citizen around. “He could’ve just asked me 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 that required immediate instruction from me to the citizen to do or not to do something?
• As far as contact goes, remember our AG policy clearly states use of force should never be routine. You will be challenged on this.
• Always ask yourself, “Do I need to touch this citizen to accomplish a lawful objective.”

Slide #21

• Causes of citizen – officer violence. Humiliates the citizen in public. “If you want to search me, why couldn’t he do it up on my porch instead of out on the sidewalk for all my neighbors to watch?”
• This concerns itself again with the topic of respect. There may be legitimate safety concerns why you could not accommodate such action that is portrayed on this particular slide.
• On the other hand such action may be discretionary on your part.

Slide #22

• Handling a potentially violent episode. Unless there is an emergency, approach the subject slowly and cautiously.
• Unless there is an “immediate necessity” to engage such as providing safety in the face of an imminent threat to some party, a slow approach is a sound tactical strategy.
• Again, working on the basic officer safety principle that time and distance is our friend; use the time to approach to your tactical advantage by processing what you are seeing.
• Threat recognition is a foundation of officer safety and any time you are afforded additional time to recognize potential threats will be a benefit.
• In a sense you are manufacturing time conducting a slow – measured approach.
• Take advantage of self- initiated safety measures if they are available to you.
Slide #23

• Handling a potentially violent episode. Try to size up the situation and analyze the scene 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 not be 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 a strategy based on your training and experience.
• Although this sounds very basic intense focus on any individual’s actions and being fully situationally aware of your surroundings is a skill and as such can be developed further.

Slide #24

• Handling a potentially violent episode. Begin the encounter with tact, patience and respect.
• First impressions of an event compressed in time are often the only impression a citizen will have of you.
• At times subjects will be prepared for a challenge from you or conversely challenge 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 often begins a downward spiral of a human interaction and the result is an escalation of emotion where control can be quickly lost.

Slide #25

• Depicts a simple process model regarding an officer’s interaction with a citizen. This model illustrates how a citizen’s behavior affects an officer’s attitude which in turn affects how the officer responds or behaves which in turn affects a citizen’s attitude.
• By way of example, when a law enforcement officer encounters a citizen and that citizen is behaving poorly, such as being disrespectful, the officer can react negatively which can begin a downward spiral relative to the quality of the citizen-officer interaction.
• It is important for a well- trained officer to understand this simple dynamic and control or “shape” the citizen’s behavior by not getting emotionally caught up in another’s negative behavior. Do not let others control your emotions.
• An interesting aspect of this model is that the interaction can begin anywhere in the model. For example, an officer is having a bad day and is brusque or rude with a citizen. This affects the attitude of the citizen which may cause the citizen to manifest a negative set of behaviors. The end result may be a poor quality interaction with the citizen when it did not have to be.
• Attitudes and behaviors of both citizens and law enforcement officers are often the result of current life circumstances which is part of human nature. As a professional law enforcement officer we need to have an awareness of these concepts so a poor verbal interaction does not turn into a physical altercation.

Slide #26

• Handling a potentially violent episode. Don’t play games with a clearly defiant subject who has no intention of complying.
• As I stated before not everyone’s negative behavior can be modified by your words or actions.
• There are times when safety is at stake and a subject’s behavior requires immediate action on your part.
• Do not forsake your own safety or the safety of others in the belief that you can bring calmness to all situations.
• It is certainly a goal but a goal to be obtained within the framework of reasonableness.

Slide #27

• Handling a potentially violent episode. Allow a few minutes for the subject to calm down. Allowing some time to pass for a subject to calm down is actually a skill.
• Law enforcement officers are action oriented and having a pause in an interaction is not natural but it is a sound strategy.
• Emotions are not based upon an on and off switch and people need time to come back to the reality of an emotional event.
• We know this from our personal life experience, being extremely angry one second and calm the next is not how humans are built.
• Even a command from a law enforcement officer can’t override that human emotion.

Slide #28

• Handling a potentially violent episode. If the subject vents, listen to both the content and emotional tone of what is being said.
• Allowing someone to vent serves multiple purposes. Experience has shown that after a person expresses themselves at a high emotional state, once said they come back 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 of time.
• Use it as an information gathering tool. We are focused today on the concept of a single topic – de-escalation – but we are law enforcement officers and we are interacting with an individual or individuals for a reason.
• A crime may have been committed. Listen carefully to gather information that may assist in any subsequent investigation.

Slide #29

• Handling a potentially violent episode. A nonviolent verbal venting use up energy and adrenaline and also establishes a rudimentary form of communicative bond.
• How many times have you observed this? Individuals “let it all out” and then become silent or exhausted similar to a child who has an outburst and then goes to sleep.
• The rudimentary bond often occurs based on the psychological fact that you are respectfully allowing the individual tosafelyact out without interfering with their emotions.

Slide #30

• Handling a potentially violent episode. Caution! Venting should not escalate to uncontrolled ranting because the subjects own emotional agitation can be inflamed leading to violence.
• As with so many other aspects of our profession the strategy of allowing one to vent is not an exact science.
• You generally will not know the person you’re dealing with when you are safely allowing them to vent their emotions.
• Based on your training and experience you will need to evaluate when venting has reached the stage of uncontrolled ranting.

Slide #31

• We are not just smart by our training and expertise, but by how well we handle ourselves and each other.
• A few comments concerning emotions. We have generally spoken today about how we deal with others who have found themselves in a situation that requires your presence. We have talked about a variety of techniques to de-escalate situations 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 frailties as those we protect and serve. On any given day when responding to a call for service we can overreact or underreact to the situation that we face.
• Ironically, underreacting can also escalate the situation. Allowing others to continue to manifest negative behavior without some measure of control by you can result in a totally out-of-control situation that will not end well.
• Overreaction is also not our friend. Nationwide there have been police – citizen encounters where law enforcement officers have reacted emotionally rather than intelligently.
• 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 can destroy an unblemished career.
• When emotions run high logic runs low. This profession sets the stage for being emotionally overwhelmed at times. You answer calls where others can’t solve their problems 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 this profession we are all subject to the other shortcomings in life that affects all humans.
• Imagine an officer who lacks a proper diet and the appropriate amount of rest. Add into the equation any one of the following factors;
• poor relationship with a significant other, financial issues, sick or dying family member(s), personal medical or psychological issues, a child with their own life challenges of an extreme nature
• The list could go on and on. Imagine this officer with a number of these issues weighing them down and responding to a call whereby a citizen presses their emotional button by disrespectful, threatening or otherwise inappropriate behavior directed 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 to envision situations so that we may better prepare for outright challenges, personal insults 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 a tactic by the other person to get you to act in a manner in which you do not normally act.
• Don’t be goaded or baited into acting out of character.
• If we know that this is a tactic by certain individuals then we need to develop our own tactic of immediately recognizing what is being done and calmly deflecting such challenges, threats and insults.