Professional Communication Skills
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Professional Communication Skills A Training Guide for Law Enforcement and Jail Officers Wisconsin Department of Justice Law Enforcement Standards Board December 2014 The Law Enforcement Standards Board approved this textbook on December 2nd, 2014. Training Academy effective date is January 1, 2016. All law enforcement basic preparatory training courses that begin on or after January 1, 2016 must incorporate this updated textbook and any related updates to the curriculum. Courses beginning before that date may elect to use these updated materials. December 2014 ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Many people contributed to the writing of this manual. The Training and Standards Bureau, Wisconsin Department of Justice, gratefully acknowledges the hard work and dedication of several Advisory Committees, which provide valuable information and insights regarding, among other things, Professional Communication. The current committee members are: Jail Training Advisory Committee Dennis Smith, Dunn County Sheriff’s Office Doris Daggett, La Crosse County Sheriff’s Office Ken Pabelick, Milwaukee County House of Correction Peter Jaskulski, Milwaukee County Sheriff’s Office Dawn Barger, Dane County Sheriff’s Office Elizabeth Paape, Northeast Wisconsin Technical College Denise Ellis, Department of Corrections Steve Benusa, La Crosse County Sheriff’s Office Steve Borroughs, Shawano County Sheriff's Office Tom Gehl, Rock County Sheriff’s Office Tiffani Gruber, Sauk County Sheriff’s Office Charles Law, Douglas County Sheriff’s Office Scott Nargis, Polk County Sheriff’s Office Jeffrey Parker, Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office Michael Schmitz, Walworth County Sheriff’s Office Nancy Sippl, Vilas County Sheriff’s Office Phillip Steffen, Brown County Sheriff’s Office Kari Sturm, Wood County Sheriff’s Marty Drapkin, T&S Representative, Chair iii December 2014 POSC Training Advisory Committee Derrick Washington, Milwaukee County Sheriff’s Office Jeffrey Noe, Western Technical College Les Beckman, Adams County Sheriff’s Office Patrick Bricco, Sheboygan County Sheriff’s Office Leona Dobbs, Kenosha County Sheriff’s Office Matthew Dryden, Dunn County Sheriff’s Office (retired) Rory Jirovec, Marathon County Sheriff’s Office Gary Klugiewicz, Non-affiliated Instructor Troy Knudson, Rock County Sheriff’s Office Jon Mills, Brown County Sheriff’s Office Mary Reel, Manitowoc County Sheriff’s Office James Ross, Milwaukee County Juvenile Detention Center Howard Sawyers, Walworth County Sheriff’s Office Douglas Verheyen, Outagamie County Sheriff’s Office Brian Zimmermann, Racine County Sheriff’s Office Marty Drapkin, T&S Representative, Chair Foundations of Professional Policing Advisory Committee Dean Roland, Sheriff’s Representative John DuBois, Chief’s Representative Aaron Tomlinson, Wisconsin Technical College System Brian Fiene, Wisconsin Technical College System Tony Green, Wisconsin State Patrol Eugene, Reyes, Greg McKay and Jeff Waldorf, Milwaukee Police Department Derrick Washington Sr., Milwaukee County Sheriff’s Office Sue Carnell, Madison Police Department Stephanie Pederson, Training and Standards Bureau (Chair) Allen Myren, Black River Falls Police Department Kelly Dougherty, Madison Police Department Harry Barger, Madison Area Technical College Lloyd Gauthier, Oneida County Sheriff’s Office Tina Braun, Fox Valley Technical College George Dulzo, Southwest Technical College Tony Reilly, Milwaukee Police Department Aaron Godlstein, Fond du Lac Police Department Kevin Stapleton, Instructor Gerald Habanek, Waukesha Police Department Mike Koll, Retired Federal Agent Thomas Roloff, Dane County Sheriff’s Office Cindy Estrup, UW-Green Bay Police Department December 2014 iv The Wisconsin Department of Justice also acknowledges the contributions of the original Professional Communication Advisory Committee which spent countless hours over the course of nearly four years to develop the content. The following individuals worked on the original development of this text: James “Harry” Barger, Verona Police Department Paul Clarke, North Fond du Lac Police Department Marty Drapkin, Training & Standards Bureau Brian Fiene, North Central Technical College Gary Klugiewicz, Milwaukee County Sheriff’s Office (Ret.) Jim Konicke, Training & Standards Bureau (Ret.) Richard Krizan, Training & Standards Bureau (Ret.) Jeff May, Waukesha County Sheriff’s Department Lee McMenamin, Wisconsin State Patrol Ron Olson, Milwaukee Police Department (Ret.) Jeff Parker, Jefferson County Sheriff’s Department Mary Sambrook, Wood County Sheriff’s Department (Ret.) Jay Sandstrom, Mendota Mental Health Institute (Ret.) Joseph Whiten, Milwaukee Police Department (Ret.) Gary Widder, Village of Plover Police Department Sue Williams, Madison Police Department In addition, the following people assisted the Committee by sharing their expertise: Paul Glowacki, St. Mary’s University Police Department, San Antonio TX Christine Clarke-Epstein, Chris Clarke-Epstein Speaking Tony Blauer, Blauer Tactical Systems, Inc. Jane Dresser, Medical-Psychiatric Nursing Consultants, Inc. Lt. Colonel Dave Grossman, U.S. Army (Ret.), Warrior Science Group Kenneth Haynes, Dane County Minority Affairs Larry Nadeau, Tidewater Training Academy Dennis Nourse, Mediation Center of Waukesha County Linda Steiger, Crisis Prevention Institute, Inc. Karen Stentz-Huebner, Ph.D., Purposeful Development Associates Daniel Vega, M.S.W, Crisis Intervention Specialist, Tacoma, Washington Finally, the Committee would like to thank Dr. George J. Thompson, president and founder of the Verbal Judo Institute, for his many contributions to the field of professional communication. Dr. Thompson is a pioneer in developing a systematic framework for teaching fundamental communication skills to law enforcement and jail officers. By recognizing that good tactics include not just what officers do, but also what they say (and how they say it), Dr. Thompson expands the tools available to officers, broadens the scope of law enforcement training and substantially increases officer safety and effectiveness. We gratefully acknowledge his seminal contributions to the development of effective tactical communication techniques. v December 2014 THIS PAGE INTENTIONALLY LEFT BLANK. December 2014 vi TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION............................................................................................................. 1 WHAT IS PROFESSIONAL COMMUNICATION? ............................................. 1 WHY IS PROFESSIONAL COMMUNICATION SO IMPORTANT? .................... 3 GENERAL COMMUNICATION SKILLS ................................................................... 7 THE BASIC PROCESS OF COMMUNICATING ................................................ 7 A COMMUNICATION MODEL ........................................................................... 9 ACTIVE LISTENING ........................................................................................ 12 ASKING AND ANSWERING QUESTIONS ...................................................... 21 MAKING REQUESTS AND GIVING ORDERS ................................................ 25 NON-VERBAL COMMUNICATION ................................................................. 27 OFFICER ROLES IN COMMUNICATION ............................................................... 31 PRINCIPLES OF PROFESSIONAL COMMUNICATION .............................................. 31 KEY CONCEPTS OF PROFESSIONAL COMMUNICATION ........................................ 33 OVERCOMING BARRIERS TO EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION ................... 37 OFFICER-GENERATED BARRIERS .............................................................. 37 PHYSICAL BARRIERS ................................................................................... 42 INTERPERSONAL BARRIERS ....................................................................... 46 COMMUNICATING ON THE JOB ............................................................................ 49 BASIC/INITIAL CONTACT MODEL ................................................................. 49 Opening ................................................................................................................................................50 Information Gathering .........................................................................................................................51 Resolution ............................................................................................................................................54 COMMUNICATION IN THE WORKPLACE ............................................................ 56 CONTACTS WITHIN AGENCIES .................................................................... 59 Contacts with Supervisors and Command Officers ..............................................................................63 Contacts with Trainers and Instructors ...............................................................................................65 Contacts with Affiliated Personnel.......................................................................................................65 COMMUNICATION OFF DUTY ....................................................................... 67 POLICE OFFICER SKILLS ..................................................................................... 74 COMMUNICATION TRAINING AS PART OF UNIFIED TACTICAL TRAINING ........................................................................................................................ 75 Incident Response/First Responder Philosophy ...................................................................................75