Mandatory ‘de-escalation’ training for Chicago police.

Sep 17, 2016

After paying out millions of dollars in lawsuits and suffering through protests over the deaths of people like Laquan McDonald, Chicago is rolling out an ambitious new initiative to train its 12,500 officers in “de-escalation” tactics.

The Chicago Tribune reports that the Chicago Police Department hopes to train all its officers in one year’s time, and to that end, it is holding classes six days a week, with each officer set to undergo two days worth of training as part of the program.

“When we can reduce the risk of taking a life even if it’s a bad guy, we should. … We should not use force simply because we can,” Sgt. Larry Snelling, the lead instructor, told a group of officers at the beginning of training. “But when you are faced with an immediate threat and your life or someone else’s life is on the line … you should respond with deadly force. You have to.”

The instructors running the training at Police Department’s Near West Side training academy are tasked with teaching officers to walk the fine line between trying to find ways to de-escalate a situation if need be while never losing the confidence to use force when it is necessary.

“The best way (to learn) is to be on that street and learn how to handle people,” said Officer Marianne Horan Dawson. “First of all, you have to quiet them. You let one speak, and you let the other speak. You won’t fix peoples’ broken lives, but we can try to fix it for that night.”