By Russell C. “Doc” Davis, Ph.D.
Few peace officers will dispute that the better you are able to communicate with others, the easier your job will be. Communication is, of course, two-way. It’s not only what you are communicating to someone else but also what they are “sending” you.
Depending upon what “authority” you consult, you will be told that anywhere from 60 to as high as 85% of human communication is nonverbal. In other words, most of what you communicate to others and they to you is not in what they say, but rather how they say it and, especially how they hold their body. It is absolutely vital to your survival to understand what another person’s intentions are: Is the individual you are facing angered, frustrated, confused, or potentially ready to become aggressive and perhaps assault you? Are you safe and should you be directing your responses towards helping that individual or is the threat level high enough that you should be preparing to defend yourself or go on the offensive the second the other person aggresses? These are questions which may save your life. And the answers are usually found in the nonverbal communication of the individual(s) you now face—not only what they are saying but also how they are saying it and their body posture. Complex?
You bet.
The good news is that you already have some awareness to this kind of communication. You have had it since you were a kid. It became part of you as you grew up. Unfortunately, this kind of integrative knowledge is more an intuitive “knowing” as opposed to a rational awareness. To put it another way, it’s what we sometimes call “street smarts” or “gut feelings.” You have a certain “animal awareness” of another person’s nonverbal communication, but you may not be consciously aware of it and, therefore, it remains more of feeling and less of an understanding. The purpose of this brief article is to assist the law enforcement officer who reads it to become more consciously aware of the nonverbal behavior s/he is seeing and, as a result, better able to read the situation and to take whatever actions are appropriate. By committing a conscious knowledge and understanding of nonverbal communication cues to the rational thinking portion of your mind, you will be able to link your gut feelings and conscious awareness together when facing another individual and making a threat assessment of the situation.
Basically, on the job, you are dealing with people who are in some state of crisis. (When was the last time someone called 9-1-1 and asked for an officer to drop by because life was really great, everything was under control, and they didn’t need any help at all? Perhaps even better stated, have you EVER received a 9-1-1 like that?) Thus, when you arrive on the scene, you are faced with people who desperately want you to do something or, conversely, want you to get the hell away from them. Either way, you need to be able to read those persons and to have an immediate conscious understanding of their mental state/potential actions.
Two Basic Types Of “Angry” People
The two basic types of emotionally aroused persons you will see on the street are those who are upset or aggressive. It is important to know the difference. The upset person is one who is normally reasonable. The basic reason they are emotionally charged is because they are upset with a particular situation. Depending upon other personality characteristics, the upset person may be either non-assertive or assertive. The non-assertive personality is passive and indirect. They communicate a message of inferiority and tend to be victims of any situation in which they find themselves. Their ability to demonstrate being upset is limited by these inhibitions. On the other hand, the more assertive upset person has a much easier time describing what is wrong and what they want. Often times, the upset assertive person is mistaken for an aggressive or difficult person. (Indeed, being both assertive and upset can make them difficult to deal with, so it behooves us to learn to identify what kind of personality we are actually facing.) Regardless of whether the upset person appears as a meek and non-assertive victim or a more assertive individual who demands a solution to a problem or issue, at a basic level their total object is to get satisfaction or to resolve a problem.
The other type we could call aggressive or difficult. This is a person whose primary goal is not the resolution of a problem or issue, but rather to take control. At heart, aggressive or difficult persons are control freaks. They assert this control either actively or passively, direct or indirect, honestly or dishonestly, but the always communicate an impression of superiority and disrespect, though they may attempt to mask this intent by appearing to be non-threatening, even friendly in the presence of authority figures, such as a law enforcement officer. Aggressive people are usually willing to disrespect and violate the rights of others.
Cues To Anger
There are several common characteristics of anger. These include:
•clenched fists
•glaring eyes
•narrowing of the eyelids/wrinkling of the brows
•grinding teeth
•biting fingernails
•sighing
•crossed arms (high across chest - lower crossed arms may simply indicate a comfort position)
•increase in breathing rate
•shaking, trembling
•body rigidity/sweaty palms
•nervous mannerism such as tapping feet, drumming or pointing the fingers, rubbing the back of the neck, animated waving of the hands among smokers - an increase in the smoking change in facial color ( red is anger, blanched is fear, white is rage)
In addition, we may note some of the following in ourselves:
•tummy knots/butterflies
•pounding heart/throbbing ears
•nausea
•weakness in the knees
•onset of “flight or fight” reaction
Submissive Gestures
We humans share a number of nonverbal behaviors with other members of the so-called “great apes” family such as gorillas and chimpanzees. These seem to be the result of both genetic “inborn” characteristics and learned behavior, and it is difficult to determine whether these responses are part of the genes we are born with or the behaviors we learn as a result of growing up around others of our own species. Take, for instance, the so-called simian smile: a broad, nervous smile given with the head pointed somewhat downwards, chin in and averting direct eye contact. This is a clear signal of “Please don’t hurt me. I acknowledge that you are bigger and stronger than me, so I submit myself to you.” It is a sign of submission whether you see it in a chimp or a human. There are several submissive gestures which we all share in common. These include:
•the submissive smile
•calm demeanor
•Inactivity or slow body movement - moving slowly or not at all
•slow speech
•grooming gestures such as using the fingers to “comb” the hair or
•"brush” the body
When these patterns are seen in another person, they usually signify that the person is being submissive and accepts you as their superior. As such, they represent a very low threat level to the officer. However, it is important to note that some potentially dangerous individuals have learned how to emulate these gestures, so one needs to be vigilant to seek other subtle clues as to the person’s real intentions.
Ritualistic Combat
It is very common to see an individual who exhibits the following characteristics:
•red face
•yelling and screaming
•rapid speech
•staring - intent eye contact
•animated use of his/her hands
•crowding - wanting to get into your face, bump chests with you
•open stance - this is one of the most critical points in threat assessment. Is the person’s stance open or closed. In the open position, their body is presented to you in a wide, open posture. In the closed, also called the bladed position, the individual turns the body to minimize its exposure to you. A boxer naturally assumes this kind of closed position.
Therefore, when you see the open stance and many if not all of the gestures noted above, you are dealing with an upset person who is attempting to get his/her way by threatening gestures. This individual has no real desire to fight and hopes to accomplish his/her goals through bluster and intimidation. It would seem that the practice of ritualistic combat reaches its pinnacle on the streets of New York, or perhaps in New Jersey. There it is raised to an art form. While the actual ritualistic combat may span 15 to perhaps even 30 minutes per encounter, it seems to go through several well-defined stages:
One: “Who are you looking at?”
Two: “Are you looking at ME?”
Three: Do you know WHO I am?”
Four: “Do you know WHAT I could do to you?”
Five: “I’m gonna . . . (here the individual proceeds to tell you in as gruesome and graphic terms possible what he could do to you. Not what he really will do, but only what he says he will do. After all, his goal is to intimidate you into getting his way, not to actually fight you.)” The person who engages in ritualistic combat, while often difficult to deal with, still represents a low threat level as long as s/he continues to exhibit this behavior. The easiest cue to a change in the threat level is moving to a bladed or closed stance accompanied by a change in facial tone, going from red (upset, angry) to white.
Threatening Gestures
The individual who exhibits these gestures represents a very high threat level. These include:
•white face
•tightened lips
•bladed or closed stance
•yelling ceases - individual may even begin to stutter or stammer over words
•sweating
•targeting glances - quick glances towards the part of your body s/he intends to attack, for example a quick glance towards your crotch could well indicate that the individual is not only about to aggress, but that he is going to target your crotch for a kick, knee bunt or a punch. These gestures may also be accompanied by some visible facial distortions of the features of individual’s left side. When these gestures are exhibited, the individual is preparing to aggress and an attack is imminent.
An Appropriate Officer Stance
Generally speaking, when dealing with an emotionally charged individual, it is important to maintain a reactionary zone distance of greater than four feet from the subject(s) so that if aggression does take place, you will have the time needed to thwart the aggression and make an appropriate physical response. It is also prudent that you acquire the habit or maintaining a defensive posture which gives the appearance of being non-threatening. The best of these is sometimes called the Father Brown or Father Flannigan stance:
•feet well apart
•bladed stance
•hands clasped lightly together in front of you at about the belt buckle position and
•the head tilted slightly down and toward the other person.
While it is generally viewed by others as an attentive, non-threatening position, it actually is very defensive in nature and will allow you to respond more rapidly and effectively to any aggressive moves, especially when you maintain the reactionary zone and are consciously focused on the significance of those nonverbal cues you are seeing.
Summary
While each of the cues listed above are important indicators of an individual’s mental state and the probability of aggressive danger, perhaps the two most telling signs are facial color and body stance. Red-faced and open stance should generally be viewed as non-threatening and signs that the individual is upset and is seeking a solution to a problem or situation.
On the other hand, a white (not blanched) face when combined with a closed or bladed stance indicates an intent to aggress and must be viewed as a sign of intent to attack you. In such a case, it is extremely important for the officer to make sure that s/he is not within the other person’s action zone, that is, closer than four feet away from the individual. Being closer invites a first strike and will virtually guarantee its accomplishment. Less than four feet distance means that action will beat reaction just about 100% of the time. Staying alert is one of the best ways there is to stay alive.