Sussex police take part in de-escalation training

Police officers and command staff from across Sussex County came together Oct. 5-6 for de-escalation training at the Lewes Public Library.

The event was hosted by the U.S. Department of Justice’s Collaborative Reform Initiative Technical Assistance Center and the International Association of Chiefs of Police, and organized by Lewes Police Chief Tom Spell and the Lewes Police Foundation. It was fully funded by the federal government.

Joe D’Amico, director of training at the Force Science Institute, worked with line officers and trainers on a fundamental-level course. John Azar-Dickens, a police psychologist and officer with the City of Rome near Atlanta, worked with command staff, including police chiefs, offering a more high-level course that discussed the psychology and science behind how the course was developed and how it can be effective.

“This is a de-escalation class, and it’s teaching the science and the procedures to help police officers be able to go into a situation and resolve it peacefully, both safely for themselves as well as for the public,” D’Amico said.

De-escalation is a buzzword that’s thrown around a lot, D’Amico said, but there is real science behind it.

“Some people are just in a situation where you can help them,” he said. “But there are people out there who are bona fide cop killers and they want to hurt a police officer, or they want to hurt their wife or they want to hurt their significant other.”

Spell said 94 law enforcement officers attended the training sessions, including 18 police chiefs from Sussex County, four Delaware State Police troop commanders and two DSP majors. Spell said all 13 of his officers attended.

This course is designed to help officers make the proper assessment if a situation occurs in the field, including if they have discretionary time.

“In a school shooting you wouldn’t [have time], but if a guy is holding himself hostage and he’s trying to kill himself, you might have discretion,” D’Amico said. “If there’s no bystanders around, we can secure the scene, slow it down, bring in the people that have the training and talk to that person.”

D’Amico is a retired Alaska State Trooper and still resides there. He travels the country training law enforcement officers with the Force Science Institute.

“I think this type of training should be included from day 1 so that officers get in a practice of doing this all the time,” he said. “It needs to be part of their tool kit.”

After working to put the program together for nearly a year, Spell said the training was a resounding success.

“We accomplished what we set out to do, which was to train as many Sussex County officers as we could,” he said.

Prior to the first day of courses, several elected officials and high-ranking state employees addressed the room, including Sen. Ernie Lopez, R-Lewes; retired Delaware State Police trooper Rep. Steve Smyk, R-Milton; former Delaware State Police superintendent and current Attorney General’s Office Chief of Staff Robert Coupe; and state prosecutor A.J. Roop. Several members of Lewes Mayor and City Council also attended the event.

Roop reiterated the importance of de-escalation training for the law enforcement community.

“The best way to reduce crime is to prevent it in the first place,” he said. “I look at de-escalation as a prevention measure in keeping police officers safe and keeping people safe. Police officers have been doing this for a long time, but we can always find ways to get better and improve skills on a day-to-day basis.”

Mission BBQ, Chick-fil-A and Dunkin Donuts provided breakfast and lunch for attendees.