Domestic Disturbance: Officer Safety And Calming Techniques 1978

[Music] in Almost any city, law enforcement officers are expected to do a wide variety of jobs ranging from enforcing traffic laws to dealing with suicidal persons to handling domestic disturbances. People turn to the police because most law enforcement agencies have 24-hour availability, the mobility of patrol cars, a relatively short response time, and the ability and authority to deal with violence. Domestic disturbances are one type of job that many police officers dislike. get away. First, because they are dangerous, and second, because persons in domestic disturbances are unpredictable, often highly emotional or irrational, and hard to calm down. You have heard that in recent years, disturbance calls have resulted in an unusually high number of police officer injuries and fatalities. So when responding to a domestic disturbance, your first consideration would be officer safety and then getting the upset or emotional disputants calmed down. 34 is on a police fire emergency. My neighbors are fighting. How do you know they're fighting? They're shouting and throwing things. Are they in the house? Yes, they're in the house. What's their name? Paul. They live at 11496th Avenue East. What's your name and address? Do they have to know the call? No, I won't tell anyone you phoned. When the call is received, the dispatcher generally tries to get as much information as possible. If the call is hot or cold, how many people are involved? If a weapon is involved, who is complaining, an observer or one of the persons involved in the fight, and the complainant's name, state of mind, and a call back number. But all too often, as you know, minimal information is available. Can you tell me, do they know if you're calling? No, I don't think so. Okay. Okay. I'll send a squad and they'll talk to you. Can you tell me what color their house is? Uh, yellow with a red door. Okay. And what color is your house? Greenish yellow. Go ahead. Greenish yellow. Okay. We'll send a squad by now. Squad 26. 26. Go ahead. First East and 7th Street. Domestic disturbance. 1149 6th Avenue East. Husband wife disturbing. The name is Paulson. Be advised, this was reported by a neighbor who heard loud noises coming from the house. Not known if any weapons are involved. 1079 1149 North 6th Avenue East. 104 responding. The reason most guys don't like to go on them is that they're unpredictable. You never know what's going to happen when you get there. Every everybody acts different. And you when you go to a domestic, you know, about 10% of them you you don't have any problem with. You can just walk in and people see you come in, they calm down and you talk to them a little while and they agree to just about everything you tell them and you walk out. Then you got 10% that you go in there and there absolutely nothing you're going to do. You usually end up either taking one or both of them out of the house with you. Probably the the other 80% are the ones that you have to spend time and working with the people. I would rather uh go to an armed robbery where I know what what's taking place. I know what's going down at the time that I'm going there so I'm prepared for it. I have myself geared up for that action and going to a domestic, you don't really know what you're getting into. So, you're trying to gear yourself to all different facets of what could take place. So, you're constantly on edge. When you get to the door, you're you're committed. When you walk into their house, you're on their territory. But, it's a dangerous situation. You'll probably want to avoid driving past the dispatched location. Park at least one house away and notify dispatch of your arrival. If you're working solo and can get a cover unit, wait for them to arrive. That's it. It's the second one down. The one with the orange door. Most of the time, before you start your approach to the place, you'll survey the situation for useful information. Look around the location for unusual circumstances. [Music] and listen for sounds of activity that might be important to you. Okay, I'll take the front. Okay, I'll go up on the right. After having surveyed the scene, plan your approach with your partner or cover officer. Approaching the house can be a dangerous part of the call. An old-timer once told me that, too. He said, uh, when you go to these calls, especially domestic situations, and you don't get that sick feeling in your gut as you're walking up to the house, if your stomach doesn't tighten up a little bit, then you better get out of the job because you're either going to you're going to get it or your partner's going to get it or somebody's going to get hurt. To maintain a low profile and maximize your security, a triangular approach to the front door usually works best. Get away from me. You're insane. I'd love to get away from You're a goddamn reptile on top of [Music] before knocking at the front door. Listen for a few seconds. From the sounds inside the place, you'll get an idea of how many people are involved and what potential there is for violence. Knock matterofactly and wait to have the door open for you. You'll want to be safely at the side of the door when it is opened. You're know that you are nuts. Look at that goddamn glass. You want me to be with you? Look at the glass. Look at that [ __ ] Well, I you know where you belong. You belong. So what? I wish I would have hit you right between the eyes. I'm not shutting up. Just watch. Just one more goddamn time you do that. I'm going to knock you on your ass. Cool. Yeah. Shut up. Don't let the I'm not shutting up. Why don't you put in the paper or something? Just be quiet for a minute. Mr. Paul, what can we talk to you? No, you cannot. What is this? You call the goddamn police? Come on in. Oh, Christ. Why don't you put in the goddamn papers? Before you get too far inside, there is a lot of important information to look for. The location of the occupants in the room, those seen and those not immediately seen, the hands of the occupants, their emotions and their potential for violence, weapons and potential weapons throughout the room. There is a temptation once the door is open to enter immediately and get to the disputants. But this slight pause to size up the situation before entering can be very important. You think I am not calling him. Hey, just cut it out. Jesus Christ. Get her away from me. Godamn it. Once safely inside the residence, it can be a tough job to calm down the disputants. Many officers have several ways of calming upset people. If they are getting physically violent with each other, to get them calmed down, they must first be physically separated. Some disputants respond to repeated calm, direct instruction from the officer. Sometimes these people respond to the uniform and the calm, controlled behavior the officer demonstrates, and sometimes they don't. Sometimes allowing the disputants personal space helps calm them down. Forcing them into a corner or touching them unnecessarily may upset them even more. Many disputants can be contained in a particular area by using an openarmed motion like hurting cattle. The spread arms present a visual barrier which the disputant is reluctant to cross. So you won't have to touch them and violate their personal space unnecessarily. Another technique for calming upset people is to request a small favor. I want you to get him out of Sky Pretty Godamn. Now, could you do me a favor, please? What do you want? I'd like to use the telephone to call the black. Would you show me where the phone is? Christ. By making a small request, which they are likely to grant. The disputant's attention is diverted from the fight and you have a chance to interrupt their upset emotions and their dispute. When it works, it's beautiful to watch. With the right request, it can accomplish both physical and visual separation with a minimal amount of force. How would you like it? You're sitting here for 5 hours waiting for your old man to come home. I understand that you're upset. That's 5 hours. Calm down. I'm sure that I want you to do my We can't take anybody out until we find out what the problem. Visual separation has proven very useful in calming upset persons. When visually separated, disputants cannot maintain visual hostilities. It is hard for two people to keep an argument going when they can't see each other. When visually separated, the disputant is forced to deal with the intervening officer and not the other disputant. If one upset person can be moved just around a room partition, the disputants will be visually separated while the intervening officers can stay in visual contact with each other. Upset? You bet I'm upset. You live with something like that for a while. You settle up too, huh? Settle down. Just relax. Settle down. Look at her. You trying to Jesus Christ. You seem like a rational man. I'm just I am. I'm a very reasonable person. But look at this. Huh? How reasonable is that? Another big help in calming upset persons is to get them seated. Seating helps reduce physical tensions first and then emotional tensions. It's hard to keep up a full head of steam when seated in a comfortable chair. When seated, the disputant has restricted motion and you have increased safety. If the disputant is going to get up, you'll have some advanced notice because he'll lean forward in the chair. I got an interview for job. Nice table. You buy that make it? No. Finally, disputants can be calmed down by distracting them. The purpose of the distraction is to momentarily divert attention from the other disputant and the fight. Once diverted from the conflict, you can get started on your business. He hasn't shaved. You know, he hasn't even had his morning cup of coffee. He hasn't been home the whole night. Jesus. If you talk to him about the reason for him not being here, you know, I don't care why he didn't come home. The problem is that he I think I think it's important that we all talk about it and get both sides of the story. You should understand his side. You should understand. You settle down though, John, so we can talk a little bit. Yeah. You fight like this often. Sometimes she doesn't hold. I don't know. What do you mean? I don't know. It's It's not a It's not a big deal. It's just uh I don't know. She got a little upset here. Starts throwing crap around. When she gets started, she doesn't stop. Christ. Mrs. Paulson, I think that we've come to a rational understanding here. You've calmed down. You think we could go in the living room now and sit down together, the four of us, and try to come to some kind of a solution for the problem at the moment. Would you be willing to try that? When the disputants are calmed down, you'll want to get them seated for the interview. Place them far enough apart so you'll have time to get between them if they should heat up again. If one officer feels certain the dispute won't flare up again, he might sit down a safe distance from the disputants. The partner should remain standing and be alert for changes in the situation. Some kind of solution to the problem. I'm calm. I'm calm. What do you want? The living room is usually the safest place for the interview. The bedroom has some obvious and some hidden dangers. [Music] The bathroom has a variety of lethal dangers and a door that locks. [Music] The kitchen is a warehouse of potential weapons. [Music] I think you two are settled down enough now so we could uh talk about this a little bit. You're our Judy, right? Can I call you Judy? Is that okay? What's the problem here? What uh what's going on? What caused this fight? Okay, the problem is is that John lost his job 6 months ago. And since then, I've been having to work my little ass off at the hospital just to pay the rent. I mean, it's ridiculous. Wait a minute. Back up, Judy. Back up. You mean I want to know what happened today? What started the fight today? Why did we get here? During the interview, the focus is on what the immediate problem is, not on what happened four or five weeks ago or four or five months ago. Last night, he took me to work and I could tell he hasn't been home since. I mean, the bed is all your shaving gears exactly in the same place. We had big plans for today. We're going to go on a picnic. We can discuss this some other day. Huh? Let's discuss it some other time. Yeah. Right. It's 2:00 and the day is shot. Okay. Well, how can what can we do to resolve the situation right now? Hey, I'm not leaving. If that's what you've got in mind, I'm staying right here. I live here. The frame of mind you're in now. You can't stay together now. So, what are we going to do? Does one of you want to leave? Well, I'm not leaving. I pay the rent. I've been here all day. Jesus Christ. John, you want me to leave? Possible solutions are identified for the immediate problem. All right. Want to go up and get a new shirt? This one's a little bit uh worn. Have my partner go up there with you, John? What for? I can get my own shirt. I don't need any help getting a shirt. Well, we'd rather do it that way if you don't mind. Oh, Christ. My jacket. [Music] You're sitting on it. I'll call you later. Why don't you call me in a couple hours? [Music] When the situation has been resolved and there is agreement on the action you expect the disputants to take, you should make a safe exit. [Music] Before [Music] walking away from the house, stop a few seconds and listen just in case there is trouble. While walking back to the car, keep an eye out for other possible safety threats. Although every officer has a particular way of handling domestic disturbances, the experience of many officers suggests getting as much information as you can from dispatch. Not passing by the dispatched location, parking at least one house away, and notifying dispatch of your arrival before starting the approach to the house. looking and listening for unusual activity or circumstances. Taking a triangular approach to the front door. Stopping at the front door to listen before knocking. After knocking, waiting for the door to be opened for you. Come on in. If someone says come in, don't. You don't know what surprises they'll have waiting for you. When they do open the door, you'll pause slightly, looking as far into the room as you can and looking through the crack by the hinges for the occupant's emotions, their hands, and potential weapons or hazards in the room. Once inside, the techniques for calming down the disputants. Physical separation. Visual separation. Blocking disputants view of each other either with your body or more effectively by blocking their view of each other with a partition while at the same time maintaining eye contact with your partner when possible allowing them personal space instead of touching them. keeping them contained by presenting a visual barrier like using the cattle herder motion instead of holding on to them. And seating, helping them reduce their physical tensions and restricting their motion while increasing your safety. And some other techniques for getting the disputants calmed down, too. Calm, direct instruction. Why don't you just Why don't you stay over here? Give him a little demonstration. Why don't you just set it up? Look at that [ __ ] Distraction. Nice cable. You buy that. Make it. No, Judy. And requesting a small favor. Could you do me a favor, please? Could you do me a favor, please? I have to call him to check it. Show me where the telephone is working. Intervening in domestic disturbances is not an easy job. No one can guarantee a successful conclusion to the next intervention. But being aware of these safety issues and these calming techniques can improve your professional response to this crisis situation. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] [Applause]