Verbal Communication Paper Essay Example for Free

Verbal Communication Paper Essay Communication can occur in two different ways, verbally and non-verbally. Whether it is verbally or non-verbally, it plays a important part in certain areas of the criminal justice system. With in this paper we will discuss the importance of verbal and non-verbal communication in the following areas police situation when concerning the press or a public announcement, courtroom setting when testifying, corrections facility when dealing with employees, peers, and inmates, and juvenile facilities when dealing with employees, peers, and inmates. It is important to know how to handle yourself within your law enforcement career when you are called upon to address the public. When dealing with the public you the public and press there are things that are ok to say and discuss and there are things that should not be said or discussed. According to our text in chapter six page 28, many officers encounter stage fright when having to speak to an informal group of people or the press and media, but as with anything practice does make perfect, the more the officer encounters situations such as this, it becomes easier to speak in public. When the officers is addressing an informal group, he or she needs to remember one key thing, and that they need to stick to the facts of the crime, and not give out more information that what is needed to be known by the general public. Now those rules may apply for informal settings, but for formal settings the situation is usually different. There are different guidelines that should be followed to help the officer speech to flow in a smooth manner. First thing first, they may want to draft a speech, now when drafting a speech it is important that they follow the following steps: 1. Prepare an outline of the topics that you will be discussing, this will help you stay on topic and assure that you will not stray from topic or give any information that should not be given. 2. Draft an outline of the main topics that you are willing to discuss, and limit it to three or four topics. By doing this it help you be able to focus on these important topics and your able to relay a clear and concise message. 3. Revise and rewrite the outline a few times to ensure that you have the right information and that you are relaying the correct information that you would like to relay. 4. Practice your speech, remember we write differently than we actually speak, so it is important that your practice your speech several times. 5. Prepare an outline and make sure that you deliver the speech in the order you have written in your outline. Also you should know the subject matter well prior to giving your speech, this way you are able to give an educated answer to any question that may come up. 6. When writing a speech, always try to start at the middle or the end, because the most difficult part will be the beginning. Usually when you begin in the middle or the end the beginning tends to write itself. (Wallace and Roberson, 2009). Those were some of the steps to delivering a successful speech according to our text. When dealing with the media, which most law enforcement will at some point in their career, can be very difficult, especially if you are not prepared and you are not fully educated on the topic in which you are speaking of to the media. Although many agencies have begun to utilize public affairs officers, there are standard operating procedures that police officers that are on the street when unexpectedly approached by a report they have procedures that they need to follow (Wallace and Roberson, 2009). These procedures are put in place to ensure conformity amongst the department (Wallace and Roberson, 2009). As you can see when dealing with the media it is very important at you are doing and saying the right things, or what you said or did can be mistaken for something else, and can ultimately have a large effect on the case that you may be working on . When an officer is in court and is called to testify, the communication is very important, because based on what he pr she says can ultimately help the jury to make a decision on whether to convict or drop the charges against the accused. In some cases an officer may be asked to give an affidavit of said events. According to our text in chapter eight page 109, there are two types of affidavits that can be retrieved. The first one is serves as evidence to assist the court in the decision of an issue or the determination of certain facts and those used to invoke the judicial process. The second type of affidavit is a certificate that is used in civil courts to provide evidence that a party has been officially notified of a pending court proceeding. Good officers usually prepare for court, in the same way that they prepare for giving a speech (Wallace and Roberson, 2009). For instance an officer may want to drive the scene of the crime, just to remember what took place on that day and what thoughts went through his mind that day when he arrived at the crime scene. That way he is well informed, and has the ability to give educated answers to the questions that he may be asked by prosecution or the defense attorneys. This also will create creditability to the officer’s testimony. It is also very critical that the officers go of the case file, so that they are even better informed of the series of events, because just as the officers are overworked so are the prosecutors. Many times the prosecutor is depending on the officers to carry their own testimony, without to much of their assistance (Wallace and Roberson, 2009). Just as there are steps to being successful when giving a speech there are steps to being a successful witness, and they are as follows: 1. Telling the truth 2. Do not guess, if you do not know say so. 3. Be sure you have a clear understanding of the question, you cannot give a honest answer if you do not understand the question 4. Take your time and answer the question answer, make sure you give as much thought to your answer to formulate an educated answer. 5. Make sure you give a loud and audible answer. 6. Do not look for assistance when you are on the stand from anyone, if you feel as though you need help request it from the judge. 7. Be aware of questions with distance involving distance and time, and if you are not sure of the exact distance or time, make sure that you make it clear that you are estimating. 8. Be courteous at all times 9. If asked if you have talked to the prosecutor, be honest and answer whether or not you have or not. 10. Avoid making jokes or wisecracks, because a lawsuit is a serious matter (Wallace and Roberson, 2009). According to our text these are the Ten Commandments that a witness should know, whether you are a seasoned officer or you are a rookie officer, these rule go across the board for everyone. Communication in the prison atmosphere is quite different than the normal communication on a day to day basis for an officer. For example many officers do not realize how much they need learn and mast verbal de-escalations skills until they work in a prison setting, where all of their weapons are taken from them. This is one of the best weapons for a correctional officer, they must be able to keep control of the prisoners with minimal to no weapons at all and they do that by utilizing their verbal de-escalation tactics. When an officers is within the prison system they must be a to calm an inmate down with just the sound of their voice, if they are not able to do that it can escalate to a very dangerous situation for the officer. Officers need to know what to say and when to say what when dealing with prison inmates, because depending on the situation they may make the situation worse, than better. Officers receive several hours of training in this type of technique, while a part of the academy, to ensure that they understand the importance of the communication with inmates. Not only is there communication with the inmates important, but also there communication with their peers are just as important for the officer. The officer should know how to speak with their fellow officer regarding certain situation. Also they need to know what not to say or do with their peers to ensure that they are following certain policies. For instance male officers need to make sure that they are not offending female officers just as female officers need to ensure that they are not offending male officers, it is a two street. This is something that transcends criminal justice and is just a normal practice of every profession not just criminal justice. It is important that you respect your peers at work and treat them the way that you would want to be treated. Also it does not just stop with the officer, this also applies to supervision staff, it is important that they speak to their staff with respect and courtesy at all times. For example I personally am a supervisor and I oversee approximately 50 associates on a daily basis, and it is very important that I treat every associate with respect and courtesy at all times. The moment that I do that I become a liability to the company, and I can be sued for many different reasons, just depending on the situation. Communication within the correctional setting is the same across the board whether the officers is within the men’s prison, women’s prison, or a juvenile correctional facility, the officers my utilize there verbal skills to de-escalate issues, they cannot always depend on weapons. As you can see communication is very important to the criminal justice systems. If the steps that were given to you in this paper are not followed then they could have serious consequences. In closing communication is not only important in the criminal justice system, but it is important in many different settings, but communication for the criminal justice system is key because that is how offenders are convicted and not let go, based on a technicality. Reference Wallace and Roberson (Ed.). (2009). Written and Interpersonal Communication: Methods for Law Enforcement . Chapter 6: Prentice Hall. Retrieved August 14, 2010, from CJA363. Wallace and Roberson (Ed. ). (2009). Written and Interpersonal Communication: Methods for Law Enforcement . Chapter 8: Prentice Hall. Retrieved August 14, 2010, from CJA363 Wallace and Roberson (Ed. ). (2009). Written and Interpersonal Communication: Methods for Law Enforcement . Chapter 1: Prentice Hall. Retrieved August 14, 2010, from CJA363