Crisis Communication: Achieving the Outcome of De-Escalation in Police-Citizen Encounters

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Crisis Communication is Jeff’s flagship class. Formerly titled "De-Escalation & Crisis Intervention", he has taught it to over 4,000 New York State Troopers, hundreds of officers across New York State, civilian agencies and companies and since retirement, police officers and civilians  across the United States. Jeff is proud to present the law enforcement version of this class to sworn officers around the country with Blue to Gold Law Enforcement Training.

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While with the State Police, Jeff created crisis intervention and de-escalation programs that were delivered to every sworn member of the NYSP and then also sought by other police agencies across New York State. Jeff has since enhanced the program and explains de-escalation in a way that will benefit every police officer from the new uniformed patrol officer to the 25-year detective, commissioned officer, or administrator that has the potential to work with individuals in crisis.

 

Additionally, a version designed especially for the community outside of law enforcement in the public sector is called

Crisis Communication: Skills to De-Escalate Encounters. 

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The tenets of de-escalation lie within the same tenets of crisis/hostage negotiation and involve communication and connection with an individual in crisis. Whether you are sworn law enforcement or in the corporate sector, we all deal with conflict in our lives and careers. Let Jeff give you a new perspective on de-escalation. In policing, you will realize that it is not soft policing but smart policing. For corporate, private, or non-police public entities , you will realize that it will help reduce liability and increase customer service and the safety of your associates.

 

In either field, learn about and how to apply Jeff's concept of "Professional Sincerity(TM)" in situations where you may not agree with someone, or even like them. Sometimes, you have to dig deep for empathy and understanding in difficult situations. Applying Professional Sincerity in these cases will help you to establish a connection with this individual.

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The outcome of de-escalation is highly influenced by the individual you are encountering. Learn to recognize when verbal de-escalation will not be feasible and in law enforcement, what constitutes an immediate threat and what the courts may consider objectively reasonable when you must take immediate action and use force. For non-law enforcement, you will learn to recognize hostile intent, an immediate threat and actions you can take to protect yourself.

 

When not faced with an immediate threat, learn proven ways to make a connection with the individual you are dealing with through communication. De-escalation is an outcome that is reached through the implementation of many skills that you already have and can be applicable in any encounter.

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For law-enforcement classes, the course begins with discussing instances of police/citizen interactions on video, asking officers to reflect what they may have done themselves in a similar situation. De-escalation is defined and discussed as an outcome that can enhance officer and public safety and help to reduce liability for agencies and potentially individual officers. You will see that through an awareness of implicit bias and application of procedural justice, legitimacy in policing is just one of the other benefits of de-escalation to be had. Examples of case law are are cited and used to show what courts may look for in determining the objective reasonableness of force that must be utilized sometimes to achieve the outcome of de-escalation..

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The philosophy of de-escalation and crisis intervention is discussed as to how it stems from crisis/hostage negotiation, and the original NYPD model from the 1970s. Officer safety will be stressed covering the response to a call with an individual in crisis, as well as the officer’s overall assessment of the scene, including environmental, behavioral and verbal cues. Problem-solving and differentiating between a crisis and a problem will be covered. The stages of a true crisis state are discussed, and an “Individual in Crisis” is defined. It is important to understand some of the instances and triggers for a person to become an individual in crisis and necessitate a police response.

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The course will discuss how common emotional stress is and the four main factors for it: mental illness, substance abuse, medical conditions and situational stress. Officers are NOT expected to be doctors or clinicians and are not expected to diagnose illnesses, but several conditions they may encounter are discussed. Understanding these conditions may help an officer understand someone’s behavior when they are not in an immediate threat situation. Communication and steps taken by the officer to verbally de-escalate a situation are covered, using skills that have been proven to work. Tips for communicating with individuals in crisis suffering from diminished capacity will be covered, as well as suicide prevention and intervention.

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As always, officer and public safety comes first and indicators of hostile intent, extreme aggression and immediate threat will be covered, with examples shown. Micro expressions of the universal emotions will be described to assist the officer in recognizing subtle hints of potential threatening behavior, as will using a subject’s baseline behavior. 

 

Use of this training in the public sector could be particularly useful for any business or agency that has the potential to work with individuals in crisis. 

 

Crisis Communication is typically a full day course, but can be tailored to your needs and will cover the following topics:

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• Defining de-escalation and our goals

• Defining and recognizing an immediate threat

• An understanding of what the courts look for in determining the

              objective reasonableness of your use of force (law enforcement) 

• Defining and explaining officer induced jeopardy (law enforcement)

• Recognizing when to remove yourself from a dangerous situation

• Defining and discussing individuals in crisis

• Recognizing indicators of hostile intent

• Learning active listening skills

• Awareness of conditions that individuals may be experiencing

• Assessing the situation, planning your approach

• Use of cover, distance, barriers, etc.

• Using communication skills to de-escalate and intervene in a crisis

• Articulation of your actions

• Students will participate in de-escalation exercises and more

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Behavioral Observation and Suspicious Activity Recognition (BOSAR)

In 2017, Jeff was one of the leads in obtaining training from the New York Police Department in BOSAR in response to ongoing terrorist and active shooter threats around the globe and facilitating the development of such a program that has been delivered to every member of the New York State Police since. Using this knowledge, he has developed a new, civilian-ready BOSAR program that can used by school districts, private companies, religious organizations, and so on to help participants recognize the common capabilities that members of police agencies and the public may have in preventing and detecting potential terrorist or criminal actions including active shooter situations using observational screening techniques. BOSAR will at the very least, enhance your situational awareness, resulting in increased safety and confidence in the workplace.

 

BOSAR will cover the following topics:

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Observational techniques    

Baselines and anomalies    

Zones of Observational Control    

Threat assessment    

Behavioral and surveillance indicators    

Universal emotions    

Lying and deception    

Behavioral symptom analysis    

Active shooter prevention/preparation and more    

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