Lesson #GP20A: Handling Disputes

Police officers come into daily contact with situations involving conflict. Their job duties require that they work closely with citizens who may have psychological problems/ mental illness, be acting strangely/out of character due to drugs and/or alcohol, or those who simply may be angry, antagonistic, or difficult. In all of these circumstances, the police officer must be able to defuse potentially explosive situations through proper negotiation, mediation, and communication skills.

If conflict is not properly prevented, managed and/or de-escalated by the officer, the situation can quickly deteriorate, putting the police officers and/or citizens’ life at jeopardy. Many police injuries occur when officers intervene in interpersonal conflicts between individuals, whether it is domestic or otherwise, and unsuccessfully handle the confrontation. Thus, police officers must possess a variety of skills to deal with conflict situations and resolve them in a non-confrontational manner. This lesson seeks to demonstrate how the police officer’s own behaviour and techniques at intervening in conflict situations can influence the way in which people respond. It also seeks to equip the police officer with the skills necessary to handle conflict situations in a professional and effective manner.

The goal of this lesson is to provide participants with the basic skills and practices which will enable them to bring disputes under control, manage conflict, and recognise/handle situations involving different persons. The focus of the lesson will be on practising communication skills to settle disputes.

At the conclusion of this lesson, participants will able to:

1. Define basic terms related to conflict management and disputes intervention as stated in the lesson.
2. Outline the factors which affect’s an officer’s ability to handle crises situation as described in the lesson.
3. List the key skills required of officers intervening in conflict situations according to the lesson.
4. List the key techniques police can use for intervening in and menaging conflict situation as taught in class.
5. Demonstrate technique officers can use when calming an individual in a conflict/crisis situation according to the lesson.
6. Demonstrate techniques officers can use when controlling a conflict/crisis situation as described in the lesson.
7. Demonstrate techniques officers can use to manage anger in a conflict/crisis situation as taught in class.
8. Demonstrate techniques officers can use to defuse a conflict/crisis situation according to the lesson.
9. Outline the basic procedure involved when mediating disputes as stated in the lesson.