Everything You Should Know About Conflict De-Escalation

Ensuring the safety and comfort of all attendees is one of the biggest challenges when managing any event. Whether it be a simple meeting, private party, or a giant festival, ensuring your guests are in secure surroundings is a must. That’s why we recommend that event organizer, managers, and venue providers make event security a top priority.

While everything about an event is planned down to the most minute details, unexpected accidents can still happen. It’s essential to be knowledgeable about strategies you can incorporate to control an out-of-hand situation better. One such strategy is conflict de-escalation.

What is Conflict De-Escalation?

This broad concept encapsulates a wide spectrum of approaches to reduce tension in a situation. In event settings, security guards often perform conflict de-escalation when the conflict between two or more people has the potential to become violent or pose a threat to others in the venue.

This is especially crucial when you have VIPs attending the event. Celebrities, politicians, or internet personalities can attract a lot of attention. While many of these individuals elicit positive reactions from adoring fans, supporters, and innocent bystanders, some audience reactions can be harmful or dangerous. Hiring a well-trained security team to patrol the environment and implement conflict resolution techniques to keep everyone safe is vital. 

Best Conflict De-Escalation Techniques

When dealing with threatening situations, the key is to establish a solid plan. This will allow you to reduce potential mistakes and give everyone involved the confidence and peace of mind they need to feel well-guarded.

To help you develop this action plan, look at the de-escalation tactics that many security professionals use to contain conflicts below. 

Listening

In all types of crises, the security team should practice active listening. This means that they should be completely aware of their surroundings and isolate individuals who may pose a possible threat. 

If they find a person demonstrating questionable behavior like anger, frustration, or aggression, they need to find ways to calm them down. One of the simplest and most effective ways to do so is to hear them and actively listen. 

More often than not, angry individuals want their feelings to be heard. When the security team approaches and confronts them, they must first and foremost have the patience to listen. They must allow the threatening persons to rant about their issues and vent their anger freely without interruption. Once they can explain themselves and the security guards acknowledge what is happening, the upset individual can often take a deep breath, react more positively, and even take responsibility for their actions. They may even help find a solution.

Empathizing

Rather than reprimanding angry or disruptive individuals, your security team must learn how to empathize. Understanding where the person is coming from is an excellent way to de-escalate the situation. 

While it may be easier to resort to authoritarianism, acknowledging the emotions of the frustrated person and showing them that they are valid can enable them to rethink their actions. Instead of being judgmental, your team should present themselves as a group of people willing to help and find a solution to whatever the issue is.

Communicating

Effective communication is about much more than the words being said. It’s also about how they are spoken to, the eye contact, and the body language accompanying them. These combined factors can help your security team establish a professional yet approachable and non-threatening aura that will evoke trust. Trust is an integral component that can diffuse a dangerous situation.

Once your team secures the trust of the angry person, they can communicate with them better at a much more calm and manageable level.

Clarifying

Sometimes, when people are mad, annoyed, or frustrated, they have difficulty communicating their points and expressing their meaning. In such instances, your security team needs to seek clarification. 

They can ask further questions or rephrase their statements so everyone can understand what the problem is genuinely about. 

In case the communication gets interrupted, your team must possess the skill to bring it back to focus. They can summarize the expounded points and reconnect with the other party. By doing this, the security team and the aggravated person can get a clearer picture of the situation to develop the best course of action.

Asking

If, for example, your security team tries to initiate a conversation with the affected party, but they refuse to talk, asking open-ended questions is an effective way to engage with them. They can start by asking simple general questions to set the tone. Then, once the participant feels comfortable enough to talk, they can progress to more specific topics. 

Collaborating

The goal of conflict resolution is to resolve the problem without using force, which is why creating a calm and composed environment is essential. 

After communicating with the angry person and asking them the necessary questions, your team can open the floor for collaboration. They can use terms like “let’s try to fix this issue together” or “let’s figure this out” to demonstrate their willingness to cooperate and eliminate any semblance of resistance. 

Suggesting

As part of the collaboration, your team can suggest solutions rather than giving orders. Instead of saying, “do this,” they can start the conversation with, “would it be better if….” The more choices the person has, the less overwhelmed or restricted they will feel. As a result, your team can eliminate possible combative reactions, paving the way for more open dialogue. 

To ensure that these basic de-escalation techniques are executed well, the specialist team you hire needs to undergo consistent training and ample field experience. Even if you have a clear plan, unforeseen issues can still pop up. Having a skilled team on board is an excellent idea to help you mitigate a potentially violent situation regardless of any surprises. 

The Importance of Conflict De-Escalation

One of the critical benefits of conflict de-escalation is minimizing the need to use force. In addition, it also significantly reduces the likelihood of accidents during confrontations. 

According to a 2020 report by the International Association of Chiefs of Police, conflict de-escalation training reduced use-of-force incidents by 28% and reduced citizen complaints by 26%, and security injuries by 36%. 

Multiple other studies demonstrate the same findings in different regions of the state. Conflict de-escalation can improve community relations and minimize the risk of lawsuits and liability claims, which will be a significant player in events.

Before chaos ensues, conflict de-escalation can neutralize the situation and prevent mishaps from taking place. For this reason, this particular strategy is essential for security personnel to be knowledgeable about and experienced. 

Security Services That Provide Conflict De-Escalation Training in Oregon

In Oregon, several institutions specialize in training your security team with conflict de-escalation. Some notable institutions offering courses to develop this skill include the Center for Policing Excellence, Northwest Enforcement, and the Crisis Prevention Institute. 

Their training course covers everything security personnel will need, including the de-escalation skills listed below. 

Recognizing Early Warning Signs of Potential Trouble

Typically, aggressive behavior and violence come out of nowhere. It might be an instant response that no one expected to see. But if your security team is trained to recognize early signs of these types of behavior, they can control the situation and avoid fallouts. 

In their training, they will learn how to identify potential threats by analyzing people’s stances, verbal usage, body language, and other nuanced signals of building aggression. It’s these little details that can differentiate a bystander from an aggressor. All security teams must learn to observe these crucial elements to respond accordingly. 

Remaining Calm in the Face of a Conflict

Conflicts often lead to heated arguments, which can test one’s patience. Once your security’s window of tolerance is gone, they may find it challenging to remain calm. That’s why essential training is vital. 

When they go through the required courses, they will learn how to control their emotions and remain calm, even amidst the most stressful events. Through self-regulation tactics, your team can keep a rational mind, neutralize the risk, and prevent escalation of the situation. Only then can both parties (aggressor and security team) have a more stable conversation. 

Communicating Effectively

Finally, there’s effective communication. Communication is vital when facing a person in a combative state. It will be extremely challenging to connect to these people emotionally, so a security team needs to learn how to build trust using language. Communicating respectfully and listening to the individual’s concerns are also essential.

Language, in this sense, does not only involve speaking. It also involves listening and observing. Through the training courses, your security personnel can learn how to acknowledge what a person feels, gain insight into what other parties are experiencing, obtain the whole story, and ultimately handle sensitive circumstances properly.

The process will take time, as beneficial as it is to train your security team on these basic principles. It may also be quite costly. Suppose you have pressing events that need to be secured immediately. In that case, you may need to contact a security service in Oregon that has already undergone specialized training and ample experience in the field.

Reach Out to One Security!

One Security is one of the leading security agencies in Oregon. We have created a team of highly-trained and qualified professionals to keep our national and international clients, their assets, and their organizations safe. To establish a secure environment for every event and business, we can provide you with services focusing on conflict de-escalation. These include patrol security, onsite security, event security, fire watch, and executive security. 

If you’re interested in engaging with our extensive security services, you can reach us by calling (541) 321-8197 or emailing us at info@onesecuritycompany. 

We look forward to making every event as safe and secure as possible for you.