I broke a rule last night because I felt it was necessary for safety, and deescalated someone that was drunk and aggressive. He also had a gun. I wanted to point out some things I did that helped, and some things folks did that hurt. This is all because I’ve been trained.

It’s not because I’m especially skilled.
- when an aggressive person approaches a crowd, multiple people cannot approach them. I get that there are safety in numbers, and all journos want that shot. But safety first means one skilled negotiator. This person must be calm

- we know when RRT comes out a group swarming makes everyone panic and be aggressive. This works both ways. When a group aggressively approached this man, he immediately went for the gun in his pocket. One person even dared him to get it out.

- the first thing I did was remove him from the group. I did not set the boundary how far, I let him do that. He chose behind the barricade.
- to personalize myself, I told him my name. It’s harder to shoot a person than a nameless someone.

- at one point in the conversation he got down on his knees. I got down on the same level. I didn’t crouch like I was about to run. I chose a comfortable seated position, to show him I was relaxed and not scared.

Calm spreads calm, panic spreads panic. If you can control the pitch of your voice or your body language, then deescalation is going to be something you’re going to have to work on. This is pretty easy for actors early on, because you really have to fake it at first. Calm = calm

- all most intoxicated, aggressive, or people in mental health crises need is to be validated, listened to, and kept safe. I sat and listened actively, validated him, reassured him of his safety, and then be I navigated him out of the area twice. That was all that was necessary.

So in conclusion, while we ask others to deescalate, please take time to learn these skills yourself. Last night there were several bad examples. Like with medical emergencies, there needs to be a delegate that calmly takes the lead for a moment, and everyone else needs to GTFO.