Crisis Communications
Crisis Communications
Topics Covered:
- Crisis communications, crisis management, and threat management
- Challenges or barriers to effective communication
- Examine crisis communication models
- Crisis communications strategies
- Discuss crisis communications policy, training, and supervisory considerations
Course Overview:
Throughout history, law enforcement has been met with a number of unique challenges and today is no different. The law enforcement community across the country has been met with critical, and even harsh, internal, and external criticisms to their interactions with people diagnosed with mental illness and/or experiencing a mental health related crisis. Additionally, a law enforcement officer’s use of force in public interactions, specifically with the protected mentally ill/emotionally disturbed population, has prompted widespread advocacy and legislation for change.
A critical factor in the analysis of such incidents is the non-escalation, de-escalation, and crisis intervention strategies and techniques trained and employed by the law enforcement officer as a reasonable alternative to the use of force. As a result, continual training in communication and tactics has become a critical factor in responding as safely and effectively as possible.
This course examines crisis communications as a professional skill. It explores communication models, strategies, and concepts that can help to navigate crisis-related communications and facilitate non-escalation, de-escalation, crisis intervention, crisis management, and threat management. Crisis Communications has a deliberate focus on communication skills that can be applied to nearly any public safety related interaction. Appropriate recognition and response may support effective communication and lawful, legitimate, and positive outcomes. This course stives to better the participants’ understanding and use of crisis communications, improve decision making, increase officer and public safety, manage organizational risk, and limit personal criminal responsibility and civil liability.
This training is relevant to emergency telecommunicators and dispatchers, patrol officers, crisis intervention officers and personnel, social service providers, field training officers, academy instructors, supervisors, investigators (special investigative units, internal affairs, etc.), and legal teams.