Sunday, November 18, 2012

Introduction


Police officers communicate with multiple tools on an everyday basis. All three of these communication skills are beneficial to me in my career field and other fellow officers because all of them could mean life or death to the officer and citizens.  These communication skills can only be effective if they are learned and used properly.   In order to learn this communication skill police officers have to regularly attend classes to get their license up to date.

Friday, November 16, 2012

Nonverbal Communication Skills

Nonverbal is a important communication skill for police officer. Police officers use nonverbal skills every day we rely on are skills to keep themselves and citizens out of danger. Pinizzotto & Davis (1999) says, “A police officer's safety is dependent on their ability to nonverbally establish authority and dominance when working with the public in instances such as routine traffic stops”. Ways a police officer can insure their safety is through physical body language, hand signals and direct eye contact. Another way of communicating nonverbally is that police officers are mainly identifiable by the uniform they wear and the appearance of the car they drive

References:
Pinizzotto, A. J., Davis, E. F. (June, 1999). Offenders' Perceptual Shorthand: What Messages Are Law Enforcement Officers Sending to Offenders? [Electronic version]. FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin, 68, 1-4.

 

Thursday, November 15, 2012

Listening Communication Skills

Verbal communication is ineffective without active listening, Sometimes all a person needs is someone to listen to them rather than being strong armed by the law. Police have to communicate by listening so there reports are accurate. For a police officer to listen effectively is to be non-judgmental, to give the speaker there undivided attention and to make sure they understand exactly what the speaker is trying to tell them.

Wednesday, November 14, 2012

Verbal Communication Skills

Police officers have to be able to communicate well with others by verbally speaking. Many occupations require excellent verbal communication skills to operate efficiently. Police officers rely on verbal skills as a matter of life and death. The first lines of communication with police officers are giving and receive orders from the dispatcher. The dispatcher must be able to communicate clearly what the emergency is where it is and the level of threat. Officer to officer have to effectively verbally communicate to one another mostly by radio. Officers must speak clearly and efficiently using as few words as possible to communicate the situation. Officers also have to communicate with citizens, when verbally giving orders to a citizen; an officer has to have a firm clear voice. There is another side when dealing with citizens “the victim”, it is always hard on a victim and the officer should always communicate in a clear soft spoken voice.