Verbal De-escalation and Crisis Communications

Course Description and Agenda (Click Here)

Principles of Intervention: Students will receive proven concepts on the principles that hostage negotiators utilize to diffuse difficult street encounters. These principles include not meeting anger with anger, strategies that quickly establish rapport, understanding basic concepts of emotion verses rationality, alternatives to managing an incident, profiles of different personality types, the importance of time management, amongst others. This portion of the training will be presented in lecture, power point and video format.

Active Listening: Participants will receive information on listening and response techniques utilized by hostage or crisis negotiators in establishing trust and resolving conflict. They will understand the basic concepts of hearing versus actively listening and restating or paraphrasing what they heard in their own words, demonstrating empathy, and quickly building rapport during crisis situations. This portion of the training will be presented in lecture, power point and video format.

Mental Health Overview: Students will receive an awareness overview of managing incidents involving mentally ill and/or emotionally disturbed individuals from a police operational perspective. This training will explore several mental health disorder(s) that law enforcement officers will often encounter. It also addresses law enforcement officer’s mental health well-being. This portion of the training will be presented in lecture, power point and video format

Suicide by Cop: It is widely understood that the phenomenon of suicide-by-cop (SBC) is when a suicidal individual deliberately acts in a threatening way with the goal of provoking a lethal response from a law enforcement officer. SBC is an oxymoron occurrence that is rooted in depression, but also a highly aggressive and proactive act: true of suicide in general. It is vital for law enforcement to assess the potential for both suicide and aggression and take appropriate life-saving intervention action. This block of instruction explores several actual case reviews of SBC from several different vantage points and considers alternative approaches. This portion of the training is presented in lecture, power point and video format.