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BEING YOUR OWN WORST ENEMY
- By Brian Sharp of STA
Services
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- Scenario: You have just
arrested a 19 year old male on a Failure to Appear (FTA)
warrant. He is at his parent’s house and no weapons are
visible. You have good scene control but he is “running off
at the mouth” with fowl language and calling you every name
in the book.
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- Key Question: What are
you going to do? How are you going to handle the defendant?
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- Many agents at this point
would decide to show this “punk” who the “boss” is and
ratchet up the volume of their voice, cuss back at
defendant, demean him or maybe even use a “little extra”
physical force than is absolutely necessary. I have seen
this happen many times in my career and, unfortunately, have
also made the mistake of being the “boss” a few times. The
situation always turned out the same- unnecessary
confrontations occur as a result.
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- The lesson to consider for
today is: avoid escalating this type of confrontation by
staying in control of your emotions at all times. Using
techniques of “positive public relations” such as thinking
before speaking, giving simple direction with a firm,
commanding tone and also making the effort to listen to the
defendant and understanding the source of his or her
aggravation will help defuse a tense or out of control
situation.
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- Positive public relations
helps make sure you are able to keep a scenario like this
manageable and that you stay in control. Professional
communication, which requires both speaking and listening
and keeping a cool head, dictate that you to treat this
young man with respect, no matter how vulgar his behavior
gets.
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- Yes, I did say respect.
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- Many agents have never
considered this an area in which they may need to improve.
Remember, while he is calling you every bad word in his
vocabulary, he is having a much worse day than you; after
all, he is going back to jail tonight while you are going to
eventually go home. Let him blow off some steam and don’t
take it personally; he is under a great deal of stress and
probably does not know how else to communicate his
frustration. You are going to make it worse by treating him
in any other manner than with respect and courtesy.
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- As the professional in this
scenario, the outcome is up to you. Adopting the attitude
of showing the “punk” who the “boss” is will likely spin
events out of control until it becomes an unnecessary and
unpleasant confrontation. Anger and frustration lead to
violence. While you cannot fully control how others will
react during an apprehension, you can show restraint on your
part in an effort to keep the arrest as safe and manageable
as possible. You have choices in how you handle yourself in
every situation. By using positive public relations and
exercising good scene control, you know that in the end you
will be able to apprehend the defendant and take him in
without an unnecessary fight.
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- Brian Sharp
STA Services
PO Box 43
Gardner CO 81040
(719) 859-5859
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- Editor’s Note: This
article makes the very valid point that professionalism is
sometimes our biggest marketing weapon but a lack of
professionalism can also be our ultimate downfall. One
thing that I think bears mentioning here too, is that when
we let the situation spiral out of control we are more
likely to make poor decisions. Errors in judgment most
often land agents in Civil and Criminal court!
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