ABC News: UC criminologist calls for studies on police de-escalation training

Engel told ABC News she supports the federal government allocating funding for the rigorous study of de-escalation. Last week, Engel testified before the President’s Commission on Law Enforcement and Administration of Justice on policing culturing and reasonable use of force, and detailed the knowledge gap shrouding de-escalation training.

Although "de-escalation use of force policies and training are widely viewed as a common-sense approach," she testified, "there is no uniformly accepted definition of de-escalation within the policing field, and little is known about the development, delivery, and impact of police de-escalation training."

Engel hopes that police executives will allow researchers to tag along to collect data and evaluate use of force reforms for effectiveness. She also emphasized that de-escalation training needs strong policies to hold leadership and rank-and-file officers accountable, according to the ABC News story.

"If you just do the training, you might change attitudes but you are less likely to change behavior," she said."

Read the full story here.