De-escalation: one of the biggest buzzwords in the media and departments across the nation.

While de-escalation is the ideal outcome, it is a constant challenge gaining the compliance of an irate, non-compiling subject without physical force, especially as current tensions between law enforcement and some communities rise.

Knowing how difficult it is to constantly and properly train in de-escalation, how does your department ensure all officers are up-to-date on the latest de-escalation strategies?

Classroom & Simulator Curriculum

VirTra partnered with Vistelar to create nationally-certified de-escalation curriculum for departments to utilize in both the classroom setting and simulator. Together, VirTra and Vistelar scripted out a well-rounded list of scenarios equipped with a multitude of branching options to allow for scenarios to realistically end in de-escalation—or if the officer messes up, then less lethal force. Vistelar has made a online training module available specifically for agency VirTra instructors.

The goal is to teach officers the correct way of diffusing and controlling a situation in the safety of a controlled environment. VirTra is maximizing this training by adding it to V-VICTA™’s other training, allowing officers to learn in the classroom before practicing in the simulator before transferring those skills to the field.

By training after this curriculum in both the classroom and judgmental use of force simulator, officers learn how to work through conflicts verbally while recognizing and adapting to facial, body and micro-expressions. VirTra’s de-escalation curriculum includes:

• 4 hours of curriculum
• 5 information-rich chapters
• 6 scenarios with extensive branching options
• A 38-page lesson plan
• A 35-slide presentation

VirTra is the ONLY simulation company with de-escalation training curriculum that’s been nationally certified by an independent third party.

Certified Curriculum

As with all V-VICTA curriculum, VirTra’s de-escalation curriculum has been certified through the International Association of Directors of Law Enforcement Standards and Training (IADLEST) for their National Certification Program (NCP) review for POST accreditation. All four hours of de-escalation curriculum are certified through this program, providing training officers a powerful training tool.

By receiving NCP certification, VirTra’s de-escalation curriculum was critically reviewed by an approval body specifically aiming to raise the quality standards of ongoing law enforcement officer training across the nation. As such, instructors can be confident in teaching these materials, while saving time and money from creating their own coursework.

Departments can better prepare their officers with VirTra’s powerful, all-inclusive certified de-escalation training. Learn more about our partnership with Vistelar, V-VICTA curriculum or NCP certifications by contacting a VirTra specialist.

Why De-Escalation Training

Law enforcement officers have had the term “de-escalation” drilled into their minds by academies, training instructors and now the demand from society. As much as it is discussed, only officers know that de-escalation is not easily defined, nor is it as simple as it is made out to be.

This is because not every situation is created equal. As such, there are certain situations no officer would be able to resolve through de-escalation alone. Though whenever possible, de-escalation strategies should be utilized to reduce or eliminate the chances of force being used.

Just as defining the term “de-escalation” is complicated, so are the many forms of de-escalation. There is no one-size-fits-all de-escalation action that will improve every situation. Rather, the best type of de-escalation depends on the situation—one interaction may require giving the individual more space or time, while other situations are better resolved with a softer, more personable approach.

When incorporated correctly, de-escalation tactics may prevent escalation while potentially reducing harm for both the subject and officer. However, an officer needs extensive de-escalation lessons and training to build these skills before transferring them to the field. This is why VirTra created nationally-certified de-escalation training to help both academies and departments.

VirTra’s Certified De-Escalation Training

As with many V-VICTA™ curricula, VirTra partnered with a nationally-recognized expert in creating the coursework. For the de-escalation curriculum, VirTra partnered with Vistelar—a conflict management institute that focuses on the entire spectrum of human conflict—to apply their insight to create the most beneficial, up-to-date training materials.

After finalizing the curriculum, it was submitted for NCP—Nationally Certified Program—certification, allowing officers to receive credited training hours. Now, instructors who implement this specific curriculum gain: 4 certified training hours, 5 information-rich chapters, 6 extensive branching scenarios, a 38-page lesson plan and a 35-slide presentation. Department and academies can utilize this information to teach officers how to work through conflicts verbally while focusing on the importance of facial, body and micro-expressions.

Importance of NCP Certification in Training Materials

As mentioned above, the de-escalation curriculum was certified through IADLEST’s NCP program, which serves as the higher standard for police training. The NCP certification standards meet and often exceed individual State certification requirements, ensuring training is accepted by all participating POST organizations for training credit.

Because of this, VirTra has submitted all curriculum for NCP certification, ensuring customers are provided with only the best quality education and training content.

VirTra is currently the only simulator company that offers certified curriculum for officers, which is uploaded for free on each law enforcement simulator. Instructors can train well, knowing all content is up-to-date, certified and designed for maximum skill transfer. While there is no one-size-fits-all de-escalation action, officers can enter the field equipped with a variety of de-escalation tactics to improve each unique situation.

 

Every law enforcement officer has heard of de-escalation. It is always involved in police training and is what the public expects police to use whenever possible. Although it is not a guaranteed solution, it is something that officers are constantly reminded of and expected to be proficient in.

What is Police De-Escalation?

De-escalation involves diffusing a situation, particularly if a subject(s) is agitated. Sometimes a person or situation may need to be de-escalated as soon as the interaction begins, but there are times where escalation can be prevented altogether. This is referred to as “non-escalation” – taking control of a situation before it escalates.

VirTra has partnered with Vistelar, a company dedicated to conflict management training across the workplace spectrum – from the office to the front lines. This partnership helped form the V-VICTA™ De-Escalation training curriculum, which provides contact professionals with tips and tricks as well as practice within a VirTra simulator.

VirTra’s Re al Life Training Scenarios

A large portion of VirTra’s scenarios can be entirely verbal and based around de-escalation with no need to even reach for a firearm or less-lethal. Sometimes non-escalation is used as well, meaning a subject may appear calm, but the wrong words trigger a violent reaction. This helps law enforcement professionals recognize how to approach a situation for the best outcome.

Vistelar teaches several tactics that contribute to non-escalation. Although no non- or de-escalation techniques are guaranteed to work in every situation, these are designed to help officers show respect when it is deserved.

• Treat with Dignity – Use empathy, listen and anticipate their needs. (Remember: Respect must be earned!)
• Respond, Don’t React – Thoughtfully respond rather than impulsively react; take verbal or physical action only when necessary.
• Showtime Mindset – Align all elements of your communication with the situation at hand.
• Proxemics – Keep in mind your distance between yourself and the person you are interacting with. Be non-threatening and remember to stay back if you feel unsafe.
• Universal Greeting – To let a person know who you are and why you are there, introduce yourself and your affiliation, then give the reason for contact.
• Beyond Active Listening – In the presence of conflict, active listening isn’t enough. Go beyond that by clarifying, reflecting, advocating and other techniques that will allow for better empathy.

It is important to reiterate that these are not foolproof solutions and neither are de-escalation tools. Although it would be wonderful if they worked each time, every situation is unique and may require different strategies. Vistelar’s guidelines and suggestions should assist officers in their communication and empathy skills, therefore leading to a higher chance of successful interaction closures.

For more information on de-escalation and other V-VICTA curriculum, contact a product specialist.

Whenever possible, law enforcement is encouraged to de-escalate volatile situations. For officers, de-escalation increases their safety while allowing them to gain control of the situation. As for the subject, complying and allowing the situation to descend increases their personal safety, as officers will not have to resort to utilizing less lethal tools.

While de-escalation is always the preferred solution, some instances do not permit de-escalation as a reasonable option. However, officers are encouraged to increase the conditions for effective de-escalation for as long as possible, before the situation is diffused or officers must use force.

Containment

The level of containment depends on the subject(s). If there is a large group of people, law enforcement may have to create and enforce boundaries to limit their movements to inside the designated area. This aids the officer’s ability to prevent sudden attacks, snap decision making or other quick threats.

As for a small group or a single suspect, containment will be smaller and more controlled, providing control to the officers.

Control

How much control an officer will exercise will depend on the situation. For example, if the contained persons are still actively engaged in assaults or evidence destruction, officers are expected to establish control before beginning verbal de-escalation.

Note: the officer’s decision to talk or control is tied to the agency and community’s policies and willingness to support that decision. Officers should be well trained in department policies to know what tactics to engage in at the appropriate times.

Contact

In the context of de-escalation, contact means both the officer and suspect are willing to engage and comply in verbal de-escalation—hence a lack of physical contact.

This is where communication becomes critical. Officers must catch and understand subtle changes in voice, pitch and tone; interpret facial expressions; and analyze body language in order to determine if the suspect is willing to de-escalate.

However, this extends farther into communication, where an officer must recognize psychological, emotional or neurological impairments and understand how to best communicate with each.

In order to better prepare officers for these interactions, VirTra created the V-VICTA™ — VirTra Virtual Interactive Coursework Training Academy—curriculum: Autism Awareness and Mental Illness. While these courses do not certify officers to diagnose conditions, they teach law enforcement what to look for and how to best communicate with these individuals. After all, one must know the best forms of communicating in order to successfully de-escalate the situation.

Communication

As discussed in the previous section, effective de-escalation requires personal communication. Taking it one step further, de-escalation—or persuasive communication—requires emotional intelligence, a good amount of patience and honed skill. Officers must understand the subject, have a set goal in mind and work towards that goal of de-escalation using the skills taught in training.

Instructors can use actors, role players or simulators in teaching effective de-escalation. For example, VirTra’s high-tech simulators immerse officers in a real-life scenario. The officer must quickly analyze the situation and engage in verbal de-escalation tactics while the instructor controls how the scenario unfolds, based on the officer’s actions and choice of words.

To learn more about implementing a de-escalation, judgmental use of force simulator in your department, please contact a VirTra specialist.

This article was inspired by content produced by the Force Science Institute. More information can be found on their website.

Law enforcement is a difficult job. Peace officers go to work knowing their time will be filled with mitigating harm, preventing crime and interacting with people with the best—and the worst—intentions.

So how are officers prepared for these situations? In academies, trainees are taught how to handle lethal and less lethal weapons, and just as important, communication strategies that include de-escalation. After all, the best outcome for any situation is for the situation to be de-escalated before something difficult or tragic happens, should the subject be willing to comply.

De-Escalation Training

VirTra is helping police training academies and agencies alike to practice their officer’s de-escalation skills with the judgmental use of force simulator. Each simulator is equipped with a wide range of real-life scenarios, each with an average of 85 branching options for in-depth, realistic de-escalation and use of force training.

For example, consider the scenario “Bridge Baby.” The premise is a student officer is on patrol and flagged down by a hysterical mother who says her husband took their baby and is threatening to harm the child.

This scenario forces the training officer to confront the father and the officer can verbally de-escalate the scenario. Depending on how the officer interacts with the subject on-screen, instructors can choose to have the subject provide more information, show extreme agitation or calmly cooperate.

There is power behind having de-escalation scenarios with dozens of realistic branching options. Trainees learn how to interpret a situation, talk with subjects, they respond back and de-escalate a situation in a safe, controlled environment.

Safer for Officers and the Community

De-escalated event is the safest option for law enforcement officers in the field and subjects who comply. Officers need to receive de-escalation training in the academy and should hone this skill often within the agency keep the tactics fresh in mind and can easily utilize them in the field.

For peace officers, the safety lies in knowing they can have influence over the situation and that the subject will may not lash out, run away or escalate the situation.

For subjects, complying with officers and allowing the situation to de-escalate increases their personal safety, as an officer will not have to resort to using Axon® TASER®, pepper spray or other force options.

Saves Money

Providing additional de-escalation training can save cities millions of dollars. Think about how much of your hard-earned tax revenue is spent on defending officers in court or settling lawsuits in regards to police accusation or wrongdoings. Litigation, settlement and insurance fees quickly add up.

One of the easiest ways to decrease this cost is to supply officers with proper, thorough training. Officers who are better trained to react appropriately to the situation—such as knowing the best de-escalation tactics—are far less likely to be involved in a lawsuit due to alleged wrongdoing.

Utilizing a judgmental use of force and de-escalation simulator makes these cost reductions possible. Keep trainees and seasoned officers up-to-date on de-escalation techniques and practice with VirTra. Learn how your department and city can benefit from these simulators by contacting a VirTra specialist.

Many feel we are at a crossroads in law enforcement today. Police officers are in the national spotlight with increased scrutiny coming from the public, media, and even internal leadership over controversial use-of-force incidents.

Despite courts having recognized that police officers are often forced to make split-second judgments in rapidly evolving circumstances, the law enforcement community is also now forced to take a closer look of law enforcement tactics and judgment to resolve police-citizen encounters.

Issues in the Field

One example of how media scrutiny is putting law enforcement under a microscope is a  New York Times piece by Seth Stoughton, a professor at the University of South Carolina School of Law who is also a former police officer and state investigator. He wrote a commentary titled, “Police Shouldn’t Ask If a Shooting Is Justified, But If It’s Avoidable.” He remarked that when civilians evaluate a use-of-force incident, they want to know whether the officer could have done something—anything—else.

This national criticism on use of force has led to sweeping reform across the country in new statutes, changes to professional standards, and policy updates. Police departments across the nation are rethinking notions of policing that have held for 40 years. The results are major changes in how officers are being trained in use-of-force options, particularly de-escalation techniques.

Effective Change to the Status Quo

Basic de-escalation skills training should be designed to better equip police officers with knowledge and skills that may enable them to resolve a crisis situation with non-force options.

De-escalation has been an effective technique for a long time in law enforcement. While many officers are open to the concept of de-escalation, many others, new and veteran alike, approach de-escalation with a fair amount of skepticism. Many will tell you that concepts such as de-escalation sound great in theory but would never work on the streets.

Any renewed focus on any concept such as de-escalation that brings change to long-held practices cannot simply be taught in a classroom setting. It requires a new training methodology to involve the practical application of the concept.

So how do we introduce a new way of thinking to officers after years of training and experience? We immerse them in a realistic training environment to prove its effectiveness.

How to Get Officer Buy-In  

An effective training program will be able to give officers the experience in as close to real situations as possible, evaluate them, and provide a variety of different outcomes. But most importantly, it can show officers what works and what does not.

The training objective should be to have each officer immersed in different scenarios, so they have that split-second decision-making capability in a variety of situations that officers face.

One way to do this is through virtual simulator training that brings them closer to a real-life experience than anything else they have ever experienced. The value in integrated, immersive, de-escalation simulation training is in the opportunities it creates to allow officers to observe how de-escalation can work and the ramifications of each force option.

Answering this Training Challenge with Technology

As police administrators and trainers adapt to widespread changes in the law enforcement landscape, they need more effective options for bold and challenging adjustments to their training and standards.

VirTra’s V-300 training simulator has now made this straightforward and painless with state-of-the-art technology and real-life experience. This advanced technology allows officers to experience complex scenarios that adapt in real-time, responding to the officer’s actions. Throughout each scenario, the instructor can make adjustments to sharpen the officer’s decision making, situational awareness, and de-escalation skills.

Contact VirTra today to arrange a demo on how our technology can guide your agency towards positive change.