When you get a call for an armed robbery in progress, you immediately know the steps you have to take in order to safely, competently and professionally respond to the call.
You know that the cop next to you knows the same. You both gained that knowledge through your training in the academy, your field training process, your ongoing in-service training, and by practicing those tactics in real-life situations.
That ongoing process of having a pre-planned, professional and safe response has been drilled into you since your first days at the academy. As a result, you deal with the call in a manner meant to reduce the likelihood of resistance by a subject.
Ask Yourself Some Questions
With that in mind, ask yourself these questions:
1. What is your pre-planned, professional response to a situation dealing with a sovereign citizen who questions your very legitimacy to enforce the law?
2. What about the open carry provocateur walking down the street with an AR-15 slung over their shoulder?
If the answer is “I don’t have one” then the next question you should ask yourself is, “Why not?”
If the answer is “Yes, I’ve a plan for that” then the questions you should ask yourself next are:
1. Is it professional?
2. Does it meet the requirements of your department policy as it pertains to professional conduct?
3. Would it show you, your department and the entire profession in a positive light if it appeared on YouTube or CNN?
The problem that many officers face is that we had minimal or no training in communication, so we had to rely on learning by doing. Some of us do it better than others. Some of us have had to learn the hard way through trial and error. This learning method leads to citizen complaints and conversations with supervisors regarding deficiencies in tactful and tactical language.
When you have to deal with something — either verbally or physically — that is completely unexpected, you end up having to react to it quickly. That reaction — often times fueled by emotions and stress, may not be your best response. Being forced to react, we end up having to quickly deal with a situation, and in communication we end up ‘shooting from the lip.’
When verbally attacked we respond — under stress — with a verbal counterattack which escalates a situation that could have been easily handled without a barrage of words. Words hurt, words wound, and long after people forget what you said, they will remember how you made them feel. That feeling can determine the difference between a citizen’s complaint or a successful interaction with members of the public.
Strategies for Success
Here are seven key strategies to develop a tactical communications response:
1. Take a class in communication for law enforcement.
2. Know the law and your departmental policy — confidence in that knowledge leads to a confident response.
3. Be prepared to turn off your ego and pride. Remind yourself that it’s not about you. When people get upset, they are upset at your uniform, your badge and your position of authority — not you. By detaching your personal self from the situation, you can deal with the situation from a professional position.
4. Watch videos of previous encounters and study the language, body position, tone and attitude that officers have used in the past, then compare it with the results. Did the officer escalate the situation or resolve it to the best of their ability based on the suspect’s choices?
5. Plan and practice your verbal response just like you would an arrest-and-control tactic or a crime-in-progress response. This is a complex motor skill that requires rehearsal.
6. Debrief your performance and other officers’ performance to identify those communication tactics that work best. Did it resolve the situation or make it worse? Was it professional? Would it look good on social media, to your boss or to a jury?
7. Remember that verbal communication is one of the first steps in successful officer safety and survival. Your goal is non escalation, so that de-escalation is not necessary. By not shooting from the lip, you reduce the likelihood that you, your career, or your department will be wounded by a verbal bullet.
Your goal should be to end your police career with as few scars — physical, emotional, psychological and professional — as possible. That is a difficult job — don’t add any self-inflicted wounds because you’re shooting from the lip.
