Interpersonal Skills: Effective Communication In Law Enforcement

Officer Lawson helped to facilitate the training CIT training this year. Her prior training and continued growth in becoming a facilitator with the CIT program has enhanced her communication skills in this area. Officer Lawson is able to de-escalate situations that could turn volatile while effecting her duties. Having good communication skills provides an officer safety asset for her, helping reduce the likely hood of subjects fighting with officers and resisting

Communication is a vital tool in our society today because police officers could not serve the public effectively without good communication skills. A lack of the ability to listen or to speak effectively could result in a misunderstanding. Communication plays a very important role in the lives and jobs of police officers. Communication allows officers the ability to better manage evidence by interrogating witnesses and suspects and gathering information. This allows them to make quick and informed decisions. Police officers can only succeed if they master communication, both social and professional, so that they can be comfortable with the public and get their jobs done behind the scenes.

This was a very short semester, but I did learn quite a few things. The chapters I was more interested on were 4-6. Chapter 4 dealt with communication skills which are a very important aspect in Law Enforcement without it we would be lost. Communication is the simple process of which information is transferred from one person to another. (Hess & Orthmann, 2012, pg. 103) Some people excel at it because they were born being very sociable, others have a hard time trying to get that message to others. Practice can fix this problem over time, so there won’t be any barriers or problems getting that message send in time to get the proper help fast. Next it was Chapter 5 this chapter described all the decision-making strategies, and problem-solving

Definition of the skill - Listening as a skill is more than just hearing, it is focusing and paying full attention to not only the words being said but also the tone, syntax and body language of the person speaking with the purpose of interpreting and understanding the meaning of the conversation. This is also referred to as active listening.

Interpersonal communication skills are very important in the career field of Law Enforcement. Interpersonal communication skills are like life skills where we use every day to communicate with other people in our private and public lives. Verbal, non-verbal communication skills, listening and negotiating skills, solving problems and making decisions skills are all part of interpersonal communications. Learning to listen, choosing the right words that come out of your mouth and being positive are the most effective way to have good interpersonal communication skills. Police officers, who tend to be more skilled in communicating with public relations, have a much better experience in the career field of Law Enforcement.

Interpersonal skills sometimes referred to as soft skills, communication skills, social skills, people skills, or life skills, are skills that we all develop most often unconsciously from our early childhood (What are interpersonal skills, n.d). Interpersonal skills are part of emotional intelligence and are needed for everyone who wishes to climb the ladder of success. People who possess interpersonal skills are calm, optimistic, articulate, friendly and often charismatic (Top 10, n.d).

There are several communication mediums that the law enforcement professional must be aware of and utilize to successfully communicate to the target audience. The avenues for communication continue to increase which include emails, text messages, and conference calls to video blogging. In the law enforcement profession the communication style and method chosen will depend on the message that is being conveyed (LEPS 510 Communication for Law Enforcement Leaders Module 2). The type of medium used will be dependent on the desired communication goal. The correct medium choice was evident in a 2012 homicide case that was being investigated by the Brownwood Police Department.

Interpersonal Skills: Teaches others, team member, leadership, works well with diverse groups and serves clients and customers. (Shelley Upton – Current Employer)

In this respect, gaining public support and involvement is critical for successful police services. (Yuksel & Tepe 29). Improving relationships with communities and the police is important towards gaining public support and involvement. Building trust and support through cultural competency, diversity, education, and accountability can help improve these relationships. Much of the issues in a lot of communities where there are bad community-police relationships extend beyond the actions of law enforcement, and as for crime, is often due to the failures of the criminal justice system as a whole. Unfortunately, police officers are much more visible with community and have direct contact with members

The effective communication is important when the guidance, policies and procedures involved. The written communication, a precise, lawful/ legitimate reporting and documentation is crucial to the criminal process. Experts in criminal justice (law enforcement professionals) spend a lot amount of time completing paperwork necessary for the criminal justice process. In addition, there are rules for communicative guidance, policies, and procedures that govern all stages, phases, and aspects of law enforcement professional.

Interpersonal skills are key to effective business. Whether you are the CEO of the company or a sorter in the mail room, interpersonal skills are necessary to your success in business. These skills encompass a great number of things. Some include listening, assertiveness, negotiation, feedback, persuasion, interviewing, and coaching. It is important to understand that you can develop your skills. Not everyone is born a great listener or negotiator. These skills can be either innate or acquired. In any case, it is necessary to always want to improve them. To improve them, you must first understand what they mean and how they can be useful in your business and work environment. Then, you can go on to research and develop your interpersonal skills.

However, in the most general sense it may include areas such as leadership skills, teamwork competence, interpersonal skills, and creativity skills of an individual. Moreover, biographic data seeks to assess the interpersonal skills and the attitudes of individual in the workplace environment (Tippins, 2011).

Interpersonal skills have a great impact on both personal and professional life for example the person who working on developing those kinds of skills more likely to success than the person who dose not.

Communication skills are one of the important factors of interpersonal skills. This works through sending and receiving messages on the work. Interpersonal skills are also called soft skills. Although it was termed like that, it does not mean it is easy to learn or insignificant. Interpersonal skills are considered to be more important than technical skills because good relationship and leadership that was established towards to customers and employee is one of the secrets behind successful companies. Many managers failed on this by having unprofessional and rude character towards its employees and even its customers which would be relevant on company's growth and development. Companies must be able to assess well their managers and supervisors for optimum performance of the

When we talk about interpersonal skills we are talking about the skills used by a person to interact with each other in a proper way (Collins 2014, Collins dictionary). This term can be used in more than one context like when we talk about interpersonal skills within a business organisation we are talking about the ability of the employees to get along with other and get the job done. Under the umbrella of the term interpersonal skills there are a lot of other skills that fall under it from communication and listening skills to attitude and deportment. The communication used can be verbal and non-verbal, interpersonal communication is not just about the message but also the language used and the way it’s said.