BeyondIntractability.org   BeyondIntractability.org
Beyond Intractability: A Free Knowledge Base on More Constructive Approaches to Destructive Conflict
   


Introduction: Stephen Thom talks about how police officers can empower community members to deal with problems.


This rough transcript provides a text alternative to audio. We apologize for occasional errors and unintelligible sections (which are marked with ???).

Empowerment by Police
Stephen Thom
CRS Mediator, Los Angeles Office

[Full Interview]

Another thing we have found is that -- I've done a lot of police training lately in mediation -- we find two patterns. One is that police are often trained to take control and to tell people what to do, and after they tell people what to do, they just want to leave. Where we think we need to focus for police officers is you've got to give some of the power to the parties to learn to come up with solutions, because that's the empowerment. If disputants can come up with options to their problems, they have choices and they make decisions, and if you make decisions, you have power to overcome obstacles. You are not helpless. Then police need to learn how to get a good closure. You need to have some way to say, "Look, do you agree to this, do you agree to that? If you can both live up to your word then we could avoid this dispute in the future. Can you do that?" At the same time the officer has taught the disputants how to solve problems. "Do you think you can do this by yourself next time?"

 
The bomb that fell on Hiroshima fell on America, too. -- Hermann Hagedorn

Featured Links
Organizations Making Noteworthy Contributions to Efforts to Promote More Constructive Conflict
ACCORD
ACCORD

The African Centre for the Constructive Resolution of Disputes (ACCORD) is an international organization, working for peace throughout the African continent.

Other Resources from
Beyond Intractability
The Dynamics of Nonviolent Action
The Dynamics of Nonviolent Action

The Dynamics of Nonviolent Action will be of interest to those who seek a better understanding of the mechanism and operation of nonviolent resistance.

Nobel Peace Prize Winners

Kim Dae-jung
Kim Dae-jung

Former President of South Korea, and 2000 Nobel Peace Laureate

Beyond Intractability Version IV
Copyright © 2003-2010 The Beyond Intractability Project
Beyond Intractability is a Registered Trademark of the University of Colorado
Project Acknowledgements

The Beyond Intractability Knowledge Base Project
Guy Burgess and Heidi Burgess, Co-Directors and Editors
c/o Conflict Information Consortium (Formerly Conflict Research Consortium), University of Colorado
Campus Box 580, Boulder, CO 80309
Phone: (303) 492-1635; Fax: (303) 492-2154; Contact
University of Colorado at Boulder