Emotional Management: Case Study

Samuel Jimenez
University of San Diego
LEPS 510 Communication for Law Enforcement Leaders
Professor Loarie
August 21, 2017
 Approximately 6 months ago, the school I am assigned to was facing a Xanax epidemic. That

is, there were numerous students who were getting high on Xanax. The paramedics and the

ambulance were a common sighting at the school. Although the school administration had a list

of suspected Xanax dealers, the school administration was not able to obtain concrete evidence

to incriminate the suspects. The school administration was doing everything under their power to

address the problem (random searches, drug guest speakers, high visibility coverage, and parent

meetings) but was met with negative results.

One morning, I was called by the school principal in reference to a hostile parent who was

sitting in the principal’s office and was refusing to leave. As I approached the principal’s office, I

heard the parent arguing with the principal in a loud voice about the school administration not

doing anything to prevent kids from getting high on Xanax while in school. Once I went inside

the office, the parent became more agitated and channeled her frustration towards me. She began

to raise her voice at me and was clearly upset. I noticed I began to feel agitated, flushed, and felt

a strong impulse to act. These were all early signs of emotional distress.

The earlier we can diagnose signs of emotion, the earlier we can intervene and the more our

effective our intervention is likely to be (Fitch 2016). Rather than reacting using the emotional

side of my brain, I chose to listen to what the parent was saying. I began to ask open ended

questions such as “can you tell me more about what brought you here?” After asking that

question, the parent began to open up about her concerns. She shared she was worried about her

daughter because she found Xanax pills in her backpack. Her daughter had a history of drug

abuse and was concerned she was getting the drugs in school. Although we may not always be

able to choose our circumstances, we can always choose our responses (Fitch 2016). I chose to
listen actively and through the use of open ended questions I was able to reengage the logical

part of the parent’s brain which allowed me to calm the parent down and build rapport with her.

The ways we think about events and people significantly influence our abilities to manage our

emotional and behavioral responses effectively (Fitch 2016). Going back to my initial interaction

with the parent inside the principal’s office, I could have gone in with the mentality of simply

removing a disruptive/ angry parent from the office (just another call for service). However, I

chose to view the event (call for service) in a different way. Rather than viewing the parent as

disruptive/ angry I chose to view her as concerned/ worried about the circumstances she was in.

Because words are powerful, we must be careful with the labels we choose; choosing the right

word can have a significant impact on how we respond (Fitch 2016).

Learning to identify and recognize our triggers ahead of time provides us with opportunities

to prepare ourselves mentally and emotionally for those times when someone invariably pushes

our buttons (Fitch 2016). I personally do not like to get yelled at and dislike people being rude

for no apparent reason. As I walked into the principal’s office that morning I expected for that to

happen. My plan was to deescalate the situation by listening actively, asking open ended

question, show the parent empathy, and build rapport. If my plan would not have worked, I

would have probably slowed down the process. Frustration, anger, and other negative emotions

can limit our ability to think logically. The best way to counter the effects of negative emotions

is to increase the time allotted for important decisions or actions (Fitch 2016).

After my interaction with the parent I learned about the importance of reframing problems

and people. How we frame a problem is important because it determines what we look for, how

we interpret information, and how we go about solving the problem (Fitch 2016). We cannot
take things personal. Sometimes people are having a bad day or just want to vent their emotions

and or problems. In my particular example, I knew the parent was not angry at me or at the

school administration. She was concerned about the circumstances that brought her to the school

(Xanax pills in her daughter’s backpack that had a history of drug abuse). Hence, taking that

information into consideration, I was able to get a different perspective of the problem and offer

possible solutions.

Approximately two weeks later after my interaction with the parent, we received a call for

service in reference to drug usage at a park adjacent to the school. Upon arrival we made contact

with 5 juveniles who were students of the school I am assigned to as the Resident Officer.

Through our investigation we were able to locate approximately 50 Xanax pills on each of the

juveniles detained. They were arrested and subsequently removed from the school. Ever since

that arrest, the school has not seen any student under the influence of Xanax.
 References

Fitch, B. D. (2016). Control Your Response. In Law Enforcement Interpersonal Communication

and Conflict Management The IMPACT Model (pp. 93-97). Thousand Oaks, CA : SAGE.