Insight Policing: Conflict Resolution for Law Enforcement

Class 1 and Class 2 of Insight Policing for Bylaw are complete in the City of Surrey, BC! Megan Price and Sabina Smith are in the middle of an Insight Policing for Bylaw spree—training 4 back-to-back 2-day classes to reach nearly all of Surrey’s bylaw department.

One officer offered a helpful way to remember the power of reflecting (the skill we use to verify the emotions we notice when people are elevated). She said we’ve got to “name it to tame it.”

She’s right. It’s amazing what reflecting can do to spark curiosity, reduce the stress response, and open people up to you by making them feel heard and understood.

One of the best things about training an intensive course like Insight Policing for Bylaw is interacting with and getting to know our participants. These officers have been incredible, and we’re grateful for the opportunity to spend this time with them!.

On to the next two classes!

In Insight Policing class, we talk about those moments when someone is angry, tense, resisting. The pull to match their energy is real. 

But a simple acknowledgment and a curious question can shift everything:

“It looks like you don’t want to do what I’m asking. What’s keeping you from doing it?”

It may feel like giving up control, but actually we’re strengthening it. When we meet defensiveness with force, we escalate. When we meet it with curiosity, we release tension and get people thinking instead of reacting. When we get people thinking, we give them space to choose to step out of conflict and into cooperation. 

Recently, an officer in our Baton Rouge class put it best: “When we get curious, we let them change their minds.”

That’s the power of curiosity. It opens options, calms the moment, and leads to safer outcomes for everyone.

Congratulations to Paterson Police Department's newest recruits and a big thanks for their attention and engagement during the Insight Policing class we taught - the day after graduation! Thanks too to the veteran officers who enriched the class with their on the job experience!

The department and the community are fortunate to have these officers joining their ranks. They bring true commitment to community, safety, justice, and of course curiosity!

Last week our team was in Boulder, Colorado teaching Insight Policing: Conflict Resolution for Law Enforcement.

One officer commented that "Asking questions is what we do. Adding curious questions in situations of conflict feels natural and helps us discover information that leads to better solutions."

It's always a great feeling to hear that the skills we teach are not only impactful but naturally fit into the work that officers do everyday.

Thanks to Boulder County Sheriff's Office for hosting, to De-Escalation Training Center for supporting, and to the dedicated officers from the Sheriff's office, Longmont Public Safety, Clear Creek County Sheriff's Office and CU Campus Safety for taking the time to build your conflict communication skills through Insight Policing.

Our team was honored to bring Insight Policing to Southern University in Baton Rouge, LA earlier this month. The campus was just starting to buzz with the energy of new and returning students, while officers from , , EMS, Department of Juvenile Services and neighboring Parishes built cutting edge conflict communication skills to prevent escalation, gain cooperation without force, and strengthen connections with community members in the moment of enforcement. And we had fun doing it!

Right now, the ability to talk to people in tense situations, connect with them, and really discover the root of the problem is essential for preserving and building the trust that is the foundation of public safety.

Thank you to these wonderful officers and the important work they do everyday.

Last week we had the privilege of training deputies and detention officers from Mecklenburg Sheriff's Office in Insight Policing. The care and dedication these officers bring to the work of supporting community members, whether in court, on the road or in detention is unparalleled.

Chief Harvey Baker's statement highlights the core of the work we do through Insight Policing: empowering officers to slow down, assess, and de-escalate situations through mindful communication, critical thinking and curiosity.

With Insight Policing, we see first hand that fostering a culture of curiosity and understanding within law enforcement builds strong, trusting relationships between officers and the communities they serve.

Learn more about the impact of Insight Policing in this full interview with Chief Baker: https://www.insightpolicing.com/post/how-insight-policing-transforms-conflict-resolution-and-community-engagement-in-law-enforcement

Noticing brings to mind paying attention, heightening our awareness, and attending to signals. So often in our lives, we are on autopilot and take our interpretations of what’s in front of us for granted. We assume we know what’s going on because we can rely on our knowledge and experience without much further thought.

But in conflict - when we feel threat rising in ourselves or are confronted by the conflict behavior of others - noticing is essential. Noticing gives us the chance to step back and get curious. When we forget to notice, we easily get caught up in our own assumptions and can get drawn in, escalating situations in an instant.

Noticing clues of conflict behavior in ourselves and others - feelings and emotions, body language, actions, words - reminds us that there is more going on in our decision-making processes than we might assume. There is a reason that we’re upset or angry or defiant or aggressive. Once we’ve noticed, we position ourselves to discover - by getting curious - what that reason is rather than react to stop the behavior, even though reacting is our natural default. Often what we discover is not what we assumed and can open the door to a more positive interaction.

There’s nothing we love more than hearing how Insight Policing skills are making a difference on the job. We recently received this incredible note from a bylaw officer who put their training into action: 

In Insight Policing, we like to talk about conflict behavior as a closed door - a frustrating one that can lead us to bang against it and assert our assumptions in a way that keeps the door shut. But what if we saw that door as a puzzle - something we could open by exploring what is keeping it closed? Insight Policing helps officers employ curiosity-based communication skills to do just that.

In our latest blog, Isabella Campiglia connects the curiosity that Insight Policing leverages to open the conflict behavior door to ideas in exploratory learning, which encourages seeking to discover the unknown to reveal surprising and useful information.

https://www.insightpolicing.com/post/discovering-the-root-of-police-encounter-conflict-through-exploratory-learning

Eight years ago, following the aftermath of the tragic deaths of Michael Brown and Eric Garner, Bruce Blitman and Insight Policing Director and Trainer Megan Price published this article. It explores how officers can use curiosity to de-escalate conflict, gain cooperation and compliance, and build trust in their interactions with the public.

These principles are just as vital today.

Check out the article on our blog: https://www.insightpolicing.com/post/insight-policing-a-creative-approach-to-building-bridges-between-police-and-the-communities-they-se

Insight Policing: A Creative Approach to Building Bridges Between Police and the Communities They Serve This article from the Dispute Resolution Journal discusses the origins and real-life success stories of Insight Policing, from its development through a USDOJ pilot project in 2016 to its effective applications in cities like Memphis and Lowell. The Insight Policing principles shared in this article...

Last week, Insight Policing founder and trainer Dr. Megan Price had the honor of presenting at the Small & Rural Law Enforcement Executives Association conference in Petersburg, VA, where she discussed how critical thinking can break the cycle of citizen resistance.

By recognizing resistance as conflict behavior and engaging their own critical thinking, officers can reduce escalation and foster better communication.

Dr. Price will share more on this topic, alongside Commander Mike Delaney and Assistant Chief Easton McDonald, at the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives' annual conference next week. We hope to see many of you there!