Insight Policing at #NASRO2019

Pigeon Forge, TN is an amazing place. Nestled in the beautiful, Smokey Mountains, the town has managed to create a mecca of bizarre attractions. Not only does King Kong climb a hotel right off the main drag, but during the last week in June 2019, you could find thousands of the nation's school resource officers (SROs) there.

SROs were participating in the National Association of School Resource Officers' (NASRO) annual conference, which invites SROs from around the country to learn and connect around best practices. 

CAICR was honored to be chosen to deliver a 3-hour Insight Policing Basics workshop as part of NASRO's mission to prepare SROs with critical skills.

NASRO defines "the goals of well-founded SRO programs [to] include providing safe learning environments in our nation’s schools, providing valuable resources to school staff members, fostering positive relationships with youth, developing strategies to resolve problems affecting youth and protecting all students, so that they can reach their fullest potentials."

Our Insight Policing Basics workshop, delivered by CAICR's Director, Dr. Megan Price, and Lt. Easton McDonald of the Loudoun County (VA) Sheriff's Office, was intended to enhance SROs' ability to positively and productively engage with school communities through Insight-based communication and conflict resolution skills.

We introduced the idea that challenging behavior on the part of students, parents, and staff can be linked to conflict behavior and how we use our minds under threat.

When officers can recognize conflict behavior, they can get curious  about the threat and defense that motivates it. This tempers the very natural impulse to be reactive, and opens the way for safe, effective and supportive problem solving, something that is essential for the well-being of our kids and our schools.