Practical De-Escalation and Tactical Conduct
December 8 - 9, 2026
Alameda County Sheriff’s Office Regional Training Center - Classroom A
6289 Madigan Rd.
Dublin, CA 94568
8am - 5pm
Hosted by the Alameda County Sheriff's Office
CA POST Certified:
#1345-20811-26-001 - Plan N/A
$459.00
When someone is armed, in crisis, or refusing to follow instructions, officers need to assess the threat, understand their legal authority and obligations, and choose a response that fits the circumstances. Sometimes immediate action is necessary. Other situations allow time to gather information, coordinate officers, and create safer options.
Practical De-Escalation and Tactical Conduct © helps patrol officers and supervisors make those decisions. The course connects use of force law with the tactical choices officers face on the street, including when to approach, contain, negotiate, reposition, break contact, or use force.
You’ll learn how to assess a situation before making contact, give clear commands, organize responding officers, and develop plans that account for how the person might respond. You’ll also practice communication techniques that can help build rapport and encourage voluntary cooperation while maintaining a position of safety.
We take a realistic approach to de-escalation. Officers can create opportunities for cooperation, but they cannot guarantee that a person will cooperate. The course examines how stress and diminished capacity affect behavior, how to prepare when communication does not produce compliance, and when delaying action could increase the danger.
Through actual incident video reviews, guided discussions, and practical learning activities, you’ll evaluate decisions, develop response plans, and explain the legal and tactical reasoning behind your choices.
Concepts covered in this course:
Understanding the Law, What You Have to Do and What You Don’t Have to Do
- Evaluating imminent threats through the ability, opportunity, and apparent intent framework
- Understanding when de-escalation and alternatives to force are feasible and when they absolutely are not
- Examining the differences between legal, policy, and moral obligations
- Articulating your force decisions
- Tactical Assessment and Planning
Pre-Contact Assessments
- Gathering information and debriefing reporting parties
- Recognizing when immediate action is needed and when you can create time to plan
- Using time, distance, and barriers to create tactical advantages
- Coordinating responding officers and assigning clear responsibilities
- Developing contingency plans for the different actions a person might take
- Evaluating when breaking contact or disengagement may be appropriate
Clear Commands and Practical Negotiation
- How to give calm, clear, instructions that a person can understand and follow
- Why the soundtrack you create on body cam can make you the hero or the villain of the movie
- A crash course in negotiating
- Recognizing how stress and diminished capacity can affect understanding and compliance
- Managing your own stress so you can communicate and make decisions more effectively
Each course presentation is customized for the state we’re presenting in. That’s right, our instructors spend countless hours beforehand, research your state’s laws. That means that the presentation is specific to the laws that you must work under, not just a bunch of general ideas.
Your Instructors:
Savage Training Group founder Scott Savage recently retired from the Santa Clara Police Department after 24 years of service. He is an expert in helping officers “operationalize” the law so they can apply it in the tense and rapidly unfolding circumstances they face on the street. His previous assignments include patrol supervisor, SWAT, crisis negotiations team leader and full-time assignment to a terrorism/intelligence task force. More about Scott
Dan Flippo retired as the Deputy Chief of the Santa Cruz Police Department after 29 years of service. Dan focuses on teaching robust tactics that actually work on the street. He specializes in making patrol tactics easy to understand, even for officers and supervisors with limited tactical experience. His previous assignment includes SWAT and many years on the street in patrol. More about Dan
Payment Methods
Once you enter the student information below and click "Register", you will be taken to a checkout page where you can pay using a credit card, or you may request that an invoice be sent to your department that can be paid online or by check and sent by mail. Please note that invoices incur a $15.00 non-refundable processing fee.
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