LCSO requests Insight Policing training for deputies in field operations, School Resource Officers, courts, corrections and for supervisors to get ahead of the clashes and conflicts that we anticipate emerging from the rapid changes coming to Loudoun County.
Insight Policing is an innovation in police communication strategy. Building on conflict resolution principles, in particular on how people think and make decisions in conflict, Insight Policing trains deputies to identify conflict behavior as they look for cues for criminal behavior. The premise is that often times unlawful actions—especially those that occur during an interaction with law enforcement, for example, resistance and noncompliance—behaviors that can often trigger an escalated scene—are at the same time conflict behaviors. Insight Policing has shown that conflict behavior is an observable cue that indicates that a person is defending against some kind of perceived threat and that a person will continue to defend until the threat is mitigated. A way to mitigate a person’s sense of threat is not to heighten it by increased force, but to ask about it—to strategically investigate it. What Insight Policing suggests is that when people are asked and given the chance to be heard about what they are worried about and defending against, they tend to calm down and are more likely to comply. Not only does gaining compliance in this way indicate a level of legitimacy and trust that helps officers efficiently enforce the law, but it helps officers get information that allows them to articulate their actions. When they can articulate their actions, they can prepare strong cases, be justified in court and provide a clear outline of decisions in the case of a conviction or an IA complaint.
We believe that Insight Policing could be a powerful, low cost strategy that could have profound effects as we aim to proactively police and protect Loudoun County in the face of rapid change.
To begin to integrate Insight Policing into LCSO, we request training in Insight Policing: Core Skills, a 2-day class, to be followed by a 1-day advanced skills workshop for 32 deputies from each of the following units: patrol, courts, schools and corrections. We also request 2 1-day Leading with Insight classes for officers in supervisory roles. We would like to begin with SROs, as their availability for training is limited by the school calendar.
By many measures, Loudoun County, Virginia is an idyllic collection of communities. Situated 25 miles northwest of Washington, DC, Loudoun is the 4th largest county in Virginia, has a median income level that is more than double the national average, ranks #10 nationally in percentage of residents with a college education, is comprised largely of families with children, and has the lowest crime rate in the Washington Metropolitan Area. These positive attributes are, not surprisingly, attracting rapid growth. Between 2010 and 2017, Loudoun County saw a 26% increase in population, adding 80,400 residents. Over the next 2 years, county officials are forecasting another 30,000 new residents. The construction of a new Metro rail line, to be completed in 2020, is anticipated to lead to continued high growth and an unprecedented influx of nonresidents into areas of Loudoun County. Demographically, change is underway, and more change is coming.
Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office (LCSO), a full service agency that oversees the law enforcement and public safety of the county as well as the county’s corrections system, must be prepared to help manage the county’s growth and the civil and criminal disturbances that will inevitably accompany it. This is especially critical in the current national climate of compromised police legitimacy, which, with an increased focus on use of force and the rapid reach of social media, has stirred suspicion and mistrust even here in Loudoun County.
LCSO recognizes that if we don’t act strategically to build and maintain strong connections with communities, particularly in the midst of rapid change, public safety and effective crime fighting will be compromised. When public safety is compromised, trust and legitimacy decline, conflicts between law enforcement and the community grow, and divisions deepen. While LCSO deputies are highly trained—with over 90% trained in Crisis Intervention (CIT)—we are in need of training that will ensure that we have a department of proactive deputies who are skilled at interacting and communicating effectively with all members of the public—whether they are long time residents, new residents or visitors from around the region. We need a communication framework that deputies on patrol, in the courts, in the schools and in the adult detention center can leverage to engage their critical thinking abilities and facilitate appropriate discretion to ensure legitimacy and build a solid foundation of trust as our community grows and changes.
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