Verbal and Non-Verbal Indicators to Assault
When we speak about the “use of force,” I notice more and more that officers either need or want the green light to be given to them before they act. Correctional officers deep down have an intimate fear when it comes to the use of force of either reacting too soon, or too late resulting in injury of someone, or not at all. They have a natural ingrained fear of the criminals themselves, their administration not backing them for their actions or decisions as well as their peers not having their backs because of those very same reasons. They have terms thrown at them such as, “Reasonable,” “Excessive,” and “Liability,” with no clear cut explained definitions as well as no clear cut directions or leadership by the administrations. It is often said that it is easier to ask for forgiveness than to request permission, but in today’s litigious society this may be true, but painfully unforgiving on your career. Read more…
In June 1943, racial tension was close to the boiling point in Detroit, Michigan. Following a race-related fight at an amusement park, false rumors whipped both blacks and whites into a murderous rage. In the black community, the word was that some white men had thrown a black woman who was holding a baby into a lake. Whites repeated news that a mob of blacks had assaulted a white woman. 
One of the most significant things you can do to communicate effectively is what is called Active Listening. Some people say the fact that a person has two ears and one mouth illustrates that you should hear twice as much as you speak. One of the foundational keys to good listening is that the listener’s body language should demonstrate interest. Interest is communicated by facing the person, having good eye contact, responding with facial expressions and head nodding. The speaker will be able to see that you are listening and interested in what they are saying. We will review some of the principals, which will assist in sharpening your listening skills. 
Everyone who knows me best knows that I am big on the warrior ethos and obtaining and keeping a survival mindset. But in writing this training article I was very apprehensive on what to call it. I wanted to call it, “The Survival Mindset” but in doing so it would have indicated that we are in a survival fight for our lives with extreme peril and most administrators would have disregarded it as not applicable. I thought about calling it “The Warrior Mindset” but that would have given us a wrong public misconception that we are bloodthirsty combative killers, not good for appearances. So I sat and thought about this article and came up with a great administratively PC correct title that seemed virtually calming and non-aggressive and above all, totally crap. 
I have been asked to write some information that presents to rookie officers that may not have been in the books or trained in the academy. This put a big smile on my face as that specific purpose has been my main mission for the past two years. I write specifically to officers who are still working in the field as, I am. I understand their plight and constant need for good purposeful training that may not be there or available. Not training that mirrors your policy. Policy training spends a lot of time telling you what not to do but never informs you should do and what you should be doing. This aspect is left up to chance. The chance you may make probation or the chance you may quit after your first week. 
I have been asked to do a third part in this special use of force segment training articles. There is one topic that I enjoy more than no other to talk about, and that is the use of force. In this article specifically, I was asked about techniques to utilize so officers can use that actually work during restraints. My answer is that no technique that I could ever write about in a training article or that can be learned from reading this and then applied correctly. I can however, give you some basic principals that you can take away and seek out a good martial arts program in order to gain further knowledge. 
So you want to be a corrections officer; it’ something that you have wanted to do ever since you were bullied on the schoolyard. “Whoa; wait a minute Mr. Barnhart; are you saying that some corrections and law enforcement officers are vindictive?” No I’m not making that generalization to all, but, some; well let me say it like this… “Everyone needs a job; but not everyone needs this job.”
cadet going through the academy. At that time everything we did in training was because of officer survival and obtaining the street survival mindset so that we would not become a statistic on a wall plaque somewhere. We were constantly drilled on how to act and to do things a certain way, how to become proficient with our weapon systems and how to, at all costs, go home at the end of our shifts. I have since changed careers into corrections and the same outlook on officer survival and the survival mindset has not been grasped by our administrators or officers. I believe the total outlook of corrections administrators as it pertains to officer survival training I believe is one of “sink or swim” or “It’s not that serious.”
I have written many training articles and trained many individuals who I hope never need the tactics and strategies that I have shown. I often wonder while pondering and reminiscing of old times hoping that I told each student everything that I knew or have shown them the details of the tactics necessary to subdue the resisting individual. However, I always return to the same thought, “what makes a warrior?” In a very real sense, corrections employees serve more time in prison than many inmates, they just serve it in eight-hour installments! The famous criminologist, James B. Jacobs noted, “A career correctional officer in effect commits himself to a life sentence in prison.”