In the criminal justice field, all careers require the ability to effectively communicate with others. Working professionals seeking to advance in criminal justice can acquire the knowledge and skills to succeed in law enforcement, public agencies and related areas by enrolling in the online Master of Arts (M.A.) in Criminal Justice program from the University of Louisiana Monroe (ULM).
This flexible online program prepares students for a range of leadership roles such as police chief, warden, detective, victim’s advocate, police academy director or college professor. Because these roles involve working closely with a wide assortment of people, strong communication skills are vital to success.
What Is Effective Communication in Law Enforcement?
To successfully communicate with the general public, law enforcement officers must develop skills and attributes in a variety of areas. Chief among them are integrity, empathy, adaptability, mental agility, conflict resolution and communication.
Communication refers to both written and verbal skills necessary to interact with coworkers, citizens and related legal professionals. A big part of a law enforcement officer’s job is to capture details and write reports. To do that successfully, they must have strong listening skills and an ability to clearly and accurately gather information and convey it to others.
Spending most of their time actively listening and less time talking can help officers connect with people. Learning how to ask open-ended questions and make simple, clear requests helps them gather more information without overwhelming people being questioned.
Building Successful Communication Skills
The Florida Criminal Justice Standards and Training Commission (CJSTC) established a workgroup to identify the soft skills that recruits need to be effective correctional officers. The group’s goal was to provide recommendations for improving relationships between law enforcement agencies and the public. Changes were made to the training program based on their recommendations, and the success of the changes led to the creation of a training program designed to enhance soft skills in communication and decision-making.
Training participants learned key soft skills including the ability to develop rapport with inmates who often have traumatic backgrounds. Communicating through the lens of empathy and fairness while maintaining situational awareness and safety was found to be essential.
The style of communication used by prison officers can either facilitate or undermine relations between prisoners and prison officers. Communication styles that garner trust and build rapport are characterized as fair, honest, non-judgmental and consistent. Combined with active listening, this type of communication is the most effective. When a prison officer’s style is either too friendly or too authoritarian, it’s likely to reduce trust and increase occupational risk.
The Role of Empathy and Emotional Intelligence in Law Enforcement
More than 90% of communication is non-verbal, according to a guide from the Washington, D.C. Metropolitan Police Academy. Examples of non-verbal communication include body language, facial expressions, gestures, posture, space and positioning (proxemics), eye gaze, voice tone/inflection and appearance. The remaining percentage of communication consists of spoken words.
The Metropolitan Police Academy guide outlines the four pillars of communication law enforcement officers need to understand in order to successfully interact with community members. One of those pillars is empathy, which consists of two types.
Affective empathy refers to sensations and feelings people have in response to the emotions of others. Cognitive empathy is the ability to identify and understand the emotions of others. In encounters with the public, officers need to make every effort to understand the true nature of a situation. Cultivating empathy aids in those efforts.
Phrases that illustrate cognitive empathy include “I understand,” “I’m so sorry to hear that,” and “I can see how you would feel that way.” These types of responses can help establish rapport and, combined with appropriate non-verbal communication, they can produce immediate positive results.
Advancing Your Career and Skills With an M.A. in Criminal Justice Online
An M.A. degree in criminal justice can help professionals in the field advance their careers and increase their earning potential. ULM’s M.A. in Criminal Justice online program provides students with a comprehensive understanding of the criminal justice system.
Students complete the program ready to lead in their chosen area of expertise, from law enforcement and prison leadership to teaching and advocacy. Whether students aspire to careers as detectives, child protection supervisors, police chiefs, instructors or another role related to criminal justice, ULM equips them with the skills to achieve their professional goals and communicate well in their roles.
Learn more about the University of Louisiana Monroe’s online Master of Arts in Criminal Justice program.