De-escalation is a critical skill for law enforcement officer confronting resistance, mental illness, substance abuse and shifting values. This course is intended to educate the current-day officer on brain physiology and communication styles and tactics to arm them with abilities to calm, refocus and engage citizens in conflict to resolutions without force or complaint.
At the end of this unit of instruction, the student will be able to:
- Understand the current influences causing hostile and/uncooperative citizens
- Verbally demonstrate awareness of physiological changes, cognitive limitations, and communication skills
- Recognize indicators of aggression and defiant body language
- Apply appropriate strategies and responses to situations where verbal tactics are not successful
“This project was supported by cooperative agreement number 15JCOPS-23-GG-02564-PPSE awarded by the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services, U .S . Department of Justice. The opinions contained herein are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the official position or policies of the U .S . Department of Justice. References to specific agencies, companies, products, or services should not be considered an endorsement by the author(s) or the U .S . Department of Justice. Rather, the references are illustrations to supplement discussion of the issues. The Internet references cited in this publication were valid as of the date of this publication. Given that URLs and websites are in constant flux, neither the author(s) nor the COPS Office can vouch for their current validity. “
