GLOUCESTER TWP. — It seems like a simple equation: distance plus cover equals time.
That formula, though, can help save the lives of police officers and the people with whom they interact, said Sgt. Scott Swenson, a 16-year veteran of the Baltimore Police Department. Establish a distance between the officer and the person in crisis; trust other officers to cover and protect yourself, and take note of existing obstacles to use for cover; and, most importantly, buy time to calm the situation down, rather than ratcheting up the tension.
Swenson was at Camden County College’s Blackwood Campus Thursday for a one-day training session for law enforcement officers on de-escalation techniques, working as an instructor but also learning from others techniques to take back home with him.
The Police Executive Research Forum, a 41-year-old law enforcement training and policy nonprofit, and the Camden County Police Department sponsored the training in Integrating Communications, Assessment and Tactics (ICAT). The goal: teaching officers to keep volatile situations from escalating, while still keeping themselves, their colleagues, the public and even the suspect safe from harm.
The formula was one of the tricks of the trade shared by Swenson, who helps oversee training for the 3,000-officer force. In 2015, Baltimore police came under fire after the death of Freddy Gray while in police custody — a death that touched off riots and violence in the city, and, along with the death of Michael Brown and subsequent riots in Ferguson, Missouri, began a still-brewing national debate over police brutality, tactics and the use of deadly force.
“This training really is the best,” he said. “I’ve seen others, and frankly, felt they fell a little short.” The emphasis on communication and assessing situations before acting, something long highlighted by Camden County Police in training its officers, set ICAT training apart, Swenson added.
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