Abstract
Communities across the country have implemented mediation programs as an alternative dispute resolution process for civilian complaints against police officers. These programs vary from state to state, but certain challenges exist in each, such as ensuring neutrality, encouraging participants to engage fully in the mediation, and navigating subconscious biases held by officers and civilians. In response to these issues, this article considers whether conflict coaching opportunities within these programs have the potential to improve their effectiveness in resolving disputes and better support mediation participants. Conflict coaching is an emerging conflict navigation tool and thus there is limited research on its effectiveness. To determine its potential impact on police-civilian mediations, a group of key stakeholders in the police-civilian mediation program in St. Louis, Missouri were interviewed to determine the potential impact of conflict coaching on the program. These representatives discussed the potential benefits and drawbacks of implementing conflict coaching opportunities for civilians and officers in their own community. Despite potential costs, interviewees overall agreed that a conflict coaching program aligns with community policing standards and meets civilian demand for empathetic conflict resolution.
Recommended Citation
Beatrice Connaghan,
A New Tool in Police-Civilian Mediations: Conflict Coaching and Its Potential Benefits,
68
St. Louis U. L.J.
(2023).
Available at:
https://scholarship.law.slu.edu/lj/vol68/iss1/8