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Date: 8/23/2022
AMHERST – The University of Massachusetts Amherst Police Department (UMPD) received a $130,645 grant from the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) to host two de-escalation instructor-level training courses at the university’s Campus Center.
The instructor-level training is designed to educate participants to a point where they can teach their respective departments. The 24-hour course is designed by Blue Shield Tactical Systems LLC, and is a scenario-based course that focuses on a real-world approach to tactful communication. UMPD Sgt. Brian J. Green said part of the learning modality involves role-played scenarios “to incur realism into the training and stress inoculation for the best results possible.”
“Students will participate in this as both students and instructors, role play officers and role play the public for practical, scenario-based training,” Green said. “This model has proven to be highly effective for teaching these concepts and retaining them under stress.”
UMPD will host the course on Sept. 12 to 14 and Jan. 9 to 11, 2023. Green said all sworn personnel from area departments are encouraged to apply and media will be welcome to attend. Officers who complete the training will be awarded a de-escalation training certificate for two years. Each session can accommodate up to 60 officers with local departments also encouraged to send officers at no extra cost.
Green said the UMPD’s policy already prioritizes de-escalation tactics as the duty of all members to use or attempt to de-escalate situations in any potential use of force encounter “unless de-escalation is not feasible based on the totality of the circumstances.” Green said de-escalation tactics include verbal persuasion, warnings, slowing down the pace of an incident, creating distance and requesting back-up and additional resources. He said the department has presented similar de-escalation training in the past.
“Having officers that are trained to this level of de-escalation as reviewed and approved by the DOJ will increase safety for both the officers and the public,” Green said. “Many departments will benefit from this forward-thinking use of de-escalation regarding use of force incidents.”