# 10 steps to improving your high-risk communication



## kwflatbed (Dec 29, 2004)

Dennis L. Conroy, Ph.D. 
Provided by KRM Law Enforcement Training Division 
There are times in every police officer's career when he is faced with the choice of intentionally shooting a person or not. Officers use deadly force only as a last resort and only to save their own life or that of another. Sometimes the people shot by police officers have a long criminal history and sometimes they are first offenders, but it is always because the police officers see no other choice. 
The way we communicate in high-risk situations can give us an option. It is another tool in our bag. This doesn't mean that officers should put themselves at risk. It's not like the old cowboy movies where the good guy never shoots until after the bad guy has already shot and missed. Here officers are sometimes forces to shoot first to protect their own life or that of another. 
After every shooting there is some amount of "second-guessing" by superiors, courts, and the media. The aftermath of a shooting is often more destructive than the act of shooting itself. People don't become police officers because the want to shoot someone. It's a tremendous blow to the individual doing the shooting as well as the one shot. There are also times when an officer faces an exceptionally difficult choice about whether or not to shoot. These times might involve the elderly or children who are threats to the officers' safety. It might be during those times that the officer wishes to have that one more tool in the bag.

Full Article: http://www.policeone.com/standoff/articles/1288255/


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