An essential element in law enforcement is the ability for suspects contacted by officers to become resistant and combative. When cases like this occur it is highly likely that officers will need to use force. With the ever-increasing skepticism of law enforcement and the frequent Monday morning quarterbacks that occur with police incidents, many agencies are teaching their officers tactical communication and how to disarm and diffuse certain situations with the use of words. Tactical communication is not a new notion, but it is a concept that has been revisited and revised and seems to have reached a much more compelling form these days. But how effective is tactical communication truly when higher force levels are not appropriate? My goal, through my research paper, is to shed light on a policing tactic that is not as criticized but is equally, if not more, significant to use in everyday policing operations. Tactical communication, verbal self-defense, verbal judo or verbal aikido. is defined as the use of dialogue to prevent, reduce, or end an attempted physical or verbal assault. It's a way for officers to use words to maintain intellectual, emotional, and physical safety. It is a type of conflict management that involves and involves the distinct use of posture, body language, tone of voice and choice of words in such a way as to have the potential to calm a potentially volatile situation before it can explode to a level of physical violence. This technique often requires officers to take a split second to pause, divert the ongoing conversation to a less contentious topic, or even redirect the conversation to other individuals… half of the paper… Fair amendment, all people need to know why they are detained by the police. Thompson says officers then investigate whether there is any justifiable reason why they broke the law. Finally the officer should request identification and other forms of information.Dr. Thompson continues this tactical approach by teaching words and phrases to avoid. He states that some words and phrases hint at an escape from responsibility and carry with them a harsh sense of sarcasm. Dr. Thompson states that verbal judo, tactical communication, is only one way. It's a kinder way. Engagement in tactical communication or contact professionalism is an effective and efficient lifestyle. It's not just for sales, not just for making money and not just for dominating people. It is a way of living and working with dignity, power and assertiveness (Thompson, 2004).
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