Deëscalation tip #18

How can police get trained to manage escalated people more effectively? Does deëscalation training even help?

Doing or saying things that would tend to derail a maladaptive train of thought should be a tool in the mental belt of any officer. Failure to use that tool is a failure of either police training or police utilization of training. Research is increasingly bearing that out: 

·       Researchers examined 130 police interactions coded for a person in a mental health crisis and found the rates of the use of threats and physical compliance methods leading to injury and death of the subjects were far higher than when supportive police methods were used, e.g., reassurance, sympathy, empathy (Blais & LeClerc, 2023). 

·       Similarly, Engel, et al. (2022), in an empirical study on the Louisville KY police before and after receiving deëscalation training, found that, "Using a stepped‐wedge randomized controlled trial research design, the panel regression results demonstrated statistically significant reductions in use of force incidents (−28.1%), citizen injuries (−26.3%), and officer injuries (−36.0%) in the post‐training period" (p. 199). 

·       Again, Criminologist Li Sian Goh (2021) found a 40 percent reduction in "serious" force use in Camden, New Jersey police overall following de-escalation training, though noting that the findings may not be typical due to several unique situational factors.

References

Blais, E., & Leclerc, B. (2023). A Script Analysis of Successful Police Interventions Involving Individuals in Crisis. Canadian Journal of Criminology & Criminal Justice, 65(3), 92–125. https://doi-org.proxy.lib.pdx.edu/10.3138/cjccj-2023-0018

Engel, R. S., Corsaro, N., Isaza, G. T., & McManus, H. D. (2022). Assessing the impact of de‐escalation training on police behavior: Reducing police use of force in the Louisville, KY Metro Police Department. Criminology & Public Policy, 21(2), 199–233. https://doi.org/10.1111/1745-9133.12574

Goh, L. S. (2021). Did de‐escalation successfully reduce serious use of force in Camden County, New Jersey? A synthetic control analysis of force outcomes. Criminology & Public Policy, 20(2), 207–241. https://doi.org/10.1111/1745-9133.12536