FAQs

Officers face conflict on the job regularly. In even the most routine interactions, people get angry, they resist, they don’t comply. These reactions make it difficult for officers to do their jobs. Insight Policing’s strategic set of conflict resolution-based communication skills prepares officers to get control over conflict in those difficult moments of enforcement without resorting to force.

Insight Policing prepares officers to use targeted curiosity to discover what is causing someone to engage in aggressive, resistant, and noncompliant behaviors. This opens dialogue, diffuses tension, and reveals information that officers can use to solve the problem and reach their objective.

Insight Policing teaches officers to notice and acknowledge conflict behavior in the moment of enforcement, so they can avoid getting pulled into a situation that escalates and instead get to the root of the problem. 

When officers can get to the root of challenging situations and understand the conflict behavior directed at them, they position themselves to help. They find reasonable and fair solutions, encourage voluntary compliance, and build trust with community members while achieving their law enforcement objectives.

We work with agencies of all sizes and officers from a variety of specializations. We work with patrol officers, specialty units, investigators, supervisors and leadership, as well as civilian personnel, including 911 dispatch. Why? Because conflict can be a barrier to getting things done, both on the street and in the organization. 

We tailor our training to the experiences of our participants so they can get the most out of it and be ready to handle conflict more effectively.

Insight Policing helps officers engage in community policing while enforcing the law. Often community policing is practiced through door-to-door canvassing, community events and listening groups – tactics separate from the work of enforcement. 

Insight Policing brings community policing into the enforcement encounter with skills that allow officers to understand and create connections with the community even when the encounter begins with conflict.

Insight Policing is approved for 16 hours of in-service credit by IADLEST and is approved by the COPS Office of the U.S. Department of Justice.

• More than 95% of law enforcement personnel who have completed Insight Policing report:

  • An improved ability to deescalate 

  • An improved ability to communicate effectively during escalated encounters 

  • More productive interactions with community members

• Imagine making a traffic stop. You’ve introduced yourself, the reason for the stop, and have asked the driver for their license. They refuse, then start arguing about the stop, telling you that you’re wrong to pull them over and that they don’t deserve this treatment.  

  • What do you do? You’ve clearly seen a violation and you’ve asked them nicely to provide their ID. Now though, because they’re not complying, you need to be firmer and tell them that they are required to provide their license. They dismiss your order, and continue to rant. 

  • This can go one of two ways. It can escalate further as you apply more pressure, or you can maintain control using Insight Policing. With Insight Policing, you would turn the conflict into cooperation by first recognizing the driver’s aggression, noncompliance and resistance as conflict behavior. This would lead you to acknowledge that they are upset or confused or reluctant to provide ID, showing them that you’re listening.

  • Immediately the tone begins to change. No longer are they arguing against you, because you’re there with them, ready to understand their issue. You follow with curiosity, asking strategic questions that get you to the root of the problem: “Help me understand, what is upsetting you about this stop?” or, “What are you worried will happen if you provide your ID?” 

  • This gives the driver the opportunity to think rather than react, and gives you information you can use to address whatever problem is motivating their non-compliance. It builds rapport with the driver, who will be more inclined to cooperate, and positions you to complete the stop safely.