Psychological consultation to a police training academy: problems and opportunities

Police departments are systems of social regulation affecting the lives of many citizens. Psychological instruction to trainees can increase the armamentarium of police techniques in dealing with civil disturbances. Such instruction must be cognizant of attitudinal resistances toward new police instructors, particularly those with an intellectual or university orientation. Crisis situations that are handled by a proper balancing of coercive and negotiation types of techniques generate the most effective solution to disturbance situations. An approach is offered for effective teaching of a balanced-coercive alliance model.