After 7 years in the Army as an infantryman I became a police officer, and despite all the lights and sirens and drama on TV from shows like Cops, I learned early in my career that 99% of my time was spent simply talking to people, mediating between people, and de-escalating situations with people! I strongly believe that your body language, your tone of voice and whether you are actively listening will strongly affect how you handle a volatile situation with a loud angry person.

I retired from the Grand Rapids, Michigan police departement in 2015, and it was while preparing a conflict de-escalation training class for my church security team in 2016 that I realized what I had to share and teach would benefit anyone who deals with the public.  I can share with you and your staff or team what I learned in 20 years about de-escalating a situation and I reinforce it with dynamic scenario role-playing.  My team and I travel wherever we are needed, and we will help you and your team develop the knowledge, skills, confidence and de-escalation techniques to deal with a loud angry person, and prevent a stressful situation from becoming a dangerous critical incident.

From starting out teaching church staff and volunteers, my team and I now also travel around the country conducting very dynamic, realistic scenario based Conflict De-escalation Training seminars for businesses, corporations, state agencies, as well as staff and volunteers from educational and medical organizations.  This training program is applicable for anyone who has regular contact with customers, clients, colleagues, and who may find themselves in dealing with someone who is loud, rude, obnoxious, and confrontational.