Anger Management when Confronting Police

After an incident of police harassment, a citizen mentions this encounter:

We then left the store, and as Officer C. was riding away on his bike, and told him in a firm yet calm voice, that in the future he could talk to all parties involved before making a decision like he just did. He turned around, and started yelling at me to come with him, and swung open the door and yelled at the manager asking him if he talked to him (the manager) first. He then looked at me and started yelling very close to my face and in a manner that was very anger and spiteful, that he didn't tell me how to do my job and I should basically mind my own business. He asked me if I would like it if he came into my work and told me what to do. I bit my lip, wanting to say, “Making ’what I do’ isn’t a public service, and you don’t pay for my job, I pay for yours. Not only am I supposed to tell you what to do, you work for me bee-otch!” I didn’t say that, I just waited for him to leave. Any angry exchange would just end with me in jail or with a ticket.

Thinking of the potential consequences of our actions helps empower us not to “act out” our emotions, but rather to maintain calm. George Thompson, an ex-police officer has written a book, Verbal Judo: The Gentle Art of Persuasion, which teaches how to maintain a calm attitude while gently and firmly turning hostility aside. His model is an excellent process of handling difficult people. Ironically, he generally teaches police officers—too bad Officer C. hadn't taken the course yet!