Law Enforcement

De-Escalation: More Than A Buzzword

Revisiting the importance of persuasion communication and proxemic management

by Jill Weisensel, M.S. – Marquette University Police Department

I presented at the 2017 International Association of Campus Law Enforcement Administrators (IACLEA) Conference on the importance of de-escalation and communication training, and I received overwhelmingly positive feedback. In listening to the thoughts and concerns of campus police chiefs and directors from across the country, a critical theme emerged: there is an operational gap in our ability to provide officers with the appropriate de-escalation training that is being demanded of police and public safety officers today.

Over the past three years, law enforcement professionals, special interest groups, and citizens alike have come together to develop recommendations for how to improve police-citizen interactions and have suggested ways to reduce the need for force. Three documents specifically have been developed to serve as both the foundation and guardrails for the future of “guardian mindset” policing in America: The President’s Taskforce on 21^st Century Policing, the Police Executive Research Forum’s 30 Guiding Principles, and most recently, the International Association of Chiefs of Police National Consensus Policy on Use of Force.

While none of these are easy reading, our ability to translate these recommendations into action — through policy, training, or otherwise — should be made a priority. Ultimately, the recommendations can be distilled into tangible and actionable guidance. A common denominator in each document, while not explicitly stated, is communication training.

Whether you are trying to build trust and legitimacy, improve community policing and outreach, reduce implicit bias, increase procedural justice, or mitigate officer-created jeopardy, your department’s communication training, like that offered through Vistelar, should be at the core.

You see, we don’t have a policing problem in America — we have a perception problem. Our narrative, of a once noble and desirable profession, has been stolen from us. The gap between what some citizens think we do, versus what we actually do, is larger than ever before. This is at a time when we, as a government resource, are being asked to do more than ever before in history (if you don’t believe me just weigh an average officer’s duty bag).

Police legitimacy is no longer given to us just because we wear a badge. The badge is a symbol of public trust, and that trust has been damaged over time. We now need to rebuild and re-prove our police legitimacy every day, and that is not going to be accomplished by having one community outreach officer, or one “Officer Friendly.”

The answer, however, doesn’t have to be an expensive one. Specialty outreach programs and task-forces can be very expensive and put a strain on already limited resources and overtime budgets. Yet no specialty program, not one, can make the impact that consistent, professional quality contacts — through each and every officer — can make. Every interaction with every citizen is an opportunity to build or destroy trust. Our front line officers are the building blocks needed to reclaim and recreate our narrative, and that as a “program” — with the appropriate communication training to support it  — is free.

 

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At Vistelar, we’ve been working on conflict management tactics for smoothing interactions between contact professionals (e.g., in law enforcement, healthcare, education) and individuals who are experiencing mental illness, under of influence of drugs and/or alcohol, or are having a personal crisis in their lives.

People experiencing homelessness often have some or all of these attributes. In this article, we will examine the impact of homelessness, which has become a national issue, from a moral, safety and financial perspective.

First, homelessness is a moral issue in that there is a question if it is right or wrong to allow people to not have a home in today’s society. If we believe it is wrong, then we should be careful with the term we use to describe these individuals who are less fortunate than us. Are they “homeless?” — which is a dehumanizing term. Or, because their condition is hopefully temporary, should we refer to them as “persons experiencing homelessness?”

Second, homelessness is safety issue, especially for contact personals — such as police officers, correctional officers, security officers, fire and EMS personnel, medical & treatment personnel, and social services personnel — who have to interact with these individuals on the street, in private & public buildings, and within various institutional settings. Because these individuals might have some or all of the attributes listed in the first paragraph above, they should be approached with caution — but also with respect.

Pablo Velazquez, a member of the Genesis Group and a Vistelar conflict-management trainer, does a great job of explaining how to safely and effectively approach anyone (an essential conflict management skill), especially a “person experiencing homelessness”, in the video below.

[cxl url=https://www.cxl1.net/3gNrYnCqmQZ width=480 height=270 skin=black]

We need to keep in mind that people develop a feeling of ownership of any location in which they’ve taken up residence — whether that be a box under a bridge, hallway, shelter behind a dumpster, public stairwell, seat on a bus, hospital room, or jail cell. Just like you would do in entering anyone’s “residence,” announcing yourself and treating the person with respect will help to maintain everyone’s safety. Keep your distance, announce your approach, and seek permission to enter this person’s “living room.” It is more respectful, safer, and is likely to end up better for all parties involved.

Third, homelessness is a financial issue because of the short and long-term cost of not dealing with this national epidemic. The Radio Health Journal did a great podcast describing the healthcare costs of not finding housing for the individuals experiencing homelessness, which you should definitely listen to. Here is just one sad statistic from this program — the average lifespan of “persons experiencing homeless” is the late 40’s.

https://radiohealthjournal.wordpress.com/2018/03/25/18-12-segment-1-hospitals-and-housing/

Just the cost of emergency room care could be but dramatically by reducing the homelessness problem. In addition, think about the amount of conflict-management time and money that’s spent by our EMS services, social services, and police on repeat calls for the same “persons experiencing homelessness.” Added to this is of the cost of mental-health treatment and incarceration, which is often a revolving door cycle without resolution.

Homelessness must be addressed for moral, safety, and financial reasons. As contact professionals, are we willing to support these changes? Please share your comment below.

You need to watch this video that explains how to apply proxemics management to keep you safe while in close proximity to other people.

Jill Weisensel, a veteran campus safety officer, and Verbal Defense & Influence Trainer, explains how to manage the Proxemics 10-5-2 Concept that Dave Young, the Arma director of training, developed.

 

Hello there.  Gary Klugiewicz here.

We have been working on tactics for smoothing interactions between our contact professionals and their professional contacts who are experiencing mental / brain-based illness, operating under of influence of drugs / alcohol, and/or personal crisis in their lives.    We are going to examine the impact of homelessness on the communication process.  These interactions will be examined from the moral, safety, and financial perspective.

The plight of “persons experiencing homelessness have become a national issue.”   It is, first of all, a moral one is terms of assisting those persons less fortunate than us.  How we describe these persons has changed as well.   The persons should not be defined as “homeless” which describes their condition and tends to “dehumanize” their condition.  These are human beings experiencing a condition that is hopefully temporary and not a life-long sentence.   Therefore, we refer to them as “persons experiencing homelessness.”

It is also a safety issue for those contact personals such as police officers, correctional officers, security officers, fire and EMS personnel, medical & treatment personnel, and social services personnel who have to interact with these individuals on the street, in private & public buildings, and within various institutional settings.  The bottom line is that caution and respect need to be taken when approaching persons experiencing homelessness.”   Respect is a gold coin of rare value that should be used often.

Pablo Velazquez, a member of the Genesis Group and a VDI Instructor does a great job of explaining how to safely and effectively approach anyone, especially a “person experiencing homelessness”, in the video linked below.  These persons, like all people, develop a feeling of ownership of any location that they have taken up residence in whether that be a box under a bridge, a hallway, shelter behind a dumpster, public stairwell, seat on a bus, hospital room, or jail cell.   Letting you know you are there early by announcing yourself and treating them respect from the very first will help to maintain everyone’s safety.  Keep your distance, announce your approach, and seek permission to enter this person’s “living room.”  It is more respectful, safer, and likely to end up better for all parties involved.

[cxl url=https://www.cxl1.net/3gGqNpWY5YR width=620 height=348.75 skin=black]

Finally, let’s examine the financial cost of not dealing with the national epidemic of “persons experiencing homelessness.”  The Radio Health Journal did a great program of the healthcare costs of not finding housing for the homeless.  You really do need to listen to this podcast.   The repetitive and long term cost of hospital emergency care for “person’s experiencing homelessness” can be cut to a fraction of the cost once housing along with stability is provided.

https://radiohealthjournal.wordpress.com/2018/03/25/18-12-segment-1-hospitals-and-housing/

Added to this, think about the amount of time and money that is spent by our Fire & EMS services, social services, and police on repeat calls for the same “persons experiencing homelessness.” Added to this is  the cost the police interaction times, short term correctional incarceration, and treatment commitment that is spent is a revolving door cycle without resolution.   Finding housing and stability for these “persons experiencing homelessness” could provide a cost-effective solution go this national issue.    The sad truth is that the Radio Health Journal radio program find that the average life span of “persons experiencing homeless” is drastically shortened to the late 40’s.   Homelessness must be addressed for moral, safety, and financial reasons.   Are we as contact professionals willing to support these changes?   Things can only get worse for them and us if this issue isn’t addressed.

Years ago, I provided my initial training at the Milwaukee County Behavior Health Division. There I met Delores Linear-Wilson, a registered nurse, who shared a concept that called “One Voice” that I have shared ever since.  See the infographic posted above.

I have taken this mental health concept and shared it with 100’s of trainers over the years sharing it with police, corrections, military, and security trainers.  Gerard O’Dea, our Verbal Defense & Influence representative in Great Britain, shares it with his teachers and social services professionals for use in the classroom.  See the video posted below.   Let us know what you think of this tactic or have used it in the past in the comments section.

[cxl url=https://www.cxl1.net/bMSM8tnXPVx width=400×400 height=112.5 skin=black]

 

 

Hello,

This is Gary Klugiewicz.

I am the director of training for Verbal Defense & Influence that I recently had an phone conversation with Doug Lynch, one of our Vistelar Trainers.  He asked an an important question about the difference types of instructors that I wanted to share with you.

His question to people who provide instruction to others was What type of Instructor are you?

I asked him to provide his thoughts on this question that I posted below:

When I first started as an instructor, I proudly called myself a trainer. I was in front of people and telling stories, showing PowerPoints, getting a few laughs and told to come back again. I thought I could train. But, my students were failing to do what I needed them to do once they left the class. Was it me? Was it them? Was it both? Thus, started my journey.

I sought out mentors and coaches and was lucky enough to meet and learn from some of the best in the business; Gary Klugiewicz, Bob Lindsey, Peter Jaskulski, Dave and Betsy Smith, Jack Hoban, and about a dozen more. I am thankful for their patience and transfer of knowledge. It became apparent I was a Presenter, not a trainer. There was much more that needed to be accomplished in a classroom than just getting people to agree with what I was instructing.

Below is a small bit of that information to help  instructors better understand what they are doing, what they are capable of and what they need to be able to perform to master a style/level. It helps us to explain to non-instructors what to look for and what to expect from different styles/levels. In most cases, these are levels, not styles. Instructors progress through them from 1 to 4 over a career/lifetime. But, there are always exceptions.

1. Presenter / Presentation: Passive, lays out information for students. Minimal, if any, checks for understanding, learning and performance are done. To become a Presenter, one becomes proficient at public speaking and holding the audiences interest.
2. Teacher / Teach: Passive, guides students through information, confirms cognitive knowledge.
3. Trainer / Train: Active, students learn how to perform tasks, ability to perform under stress confirmed.
4. Coach / Coaching: Efficient, mastery of the levels below them. Able to TRAIN people to be competent at any of the first three levels.

His categories illustrate an increase in both competency and effectiveness that I find thought-provoking.   Do we want our instruction to merely provide information or do we want it to provide skills and changes in long-term behavior?  As with most things, the answer depends on who you are instructing, your purpose, and the length of time you have to do it.

Please post your comments below.

Hello,  This is Gary Klugiewicz.

Dave Young and I just finished facilitating a four day Verbal Defense & Influence Instructor Class at the Anoka County Sheriff’s Office located near Minneapolis, MN.  It was a very interesting class with lots of interaction with the instructors in the class.   Daniel Zeller, a security patrol lieutenant for Mall of America, brought up an interesting observation that he had made about how officers sometimes use persuasion during officer / citizen contacts.   In VDI training, we spend a great deal of time on the Persuasion Sequence that is a five step process for persuading a person to do what an officer is asking them to do.   Dan has seen this process sometimes circumvented so that it becomes a checklist that allows an officer to take action rather than a vehicle for de-escalation of conflict.   This problem goes way beyond public safety applications and impacts all contact professionals who have to deal with difficult persons.

Read on to see what this VDI Instructor has to say about this issue:

“In regards to the Persuasion Sequence when we are in contact with a subject and want them to do something, some officers may view it as merely a checklist or steps they need to follow in order to make an arrest. Rather than using the technique to generate voluntary compliance, cooperation, and collaboration, they fly through the options and confirming non-compliance because their department policy states that is what they are required to do prior to making an arrest under these circumstances. Although this does not occur with regularity, it can be assumed that it does occasionally happen.

With the newer officers they should be reminded that time is on our side. They should take the time to attempt to persuade the subject and not be so quick to throw on the handcuffs. It would be in our best interest to address it with our line officers and remind them that the Persuasion Sequence is there to do just that, persuade the subject to comply, rather than be taken into custody. We need to be in the guardian mindset and treat these people with dignity and respect.”

Thank you Lt. Zeller for this insight into the challenges of persuasion.   Tom Cline wrote an interesting article entitled “Are You a Helper or Hunter” in American Street Beat that can be accessed at  https://apbweb.com/are-you-a-helper-or-hunter/.  Are you functioning and using the persuasion sequence as a helper, i.e. protector or as a hunter, i.e., an enforcer?  While public safety officers and other contact professionals have to enforce laws, policies, and rules,  they must always remember that their primary function is that of a protector.   Remember that the purpose of the Persuasion Sequence is to generate voluntary compliance, cooperation, and compliance – not to be a vehicle to quickly take action.   By efficiently and effectively asking, explaining why, presenting options, and giving the person a second chance, you will have the best chance of persuading the person and not have to resort to taking action.

Please post your comments below.