Workshop Title:  When Tempers Flare: A Guide to De-Escalation

Date: Wednesday, June 9, 2027

Time: 8:30 AM - 11:30 AM 

Cost: $75

Presenter: Sergeant Tad Hoeschen 

St Cloud Police Department

Community Engagement Division

Community Crisis Intervention Team

This 3-Hour session takes a deep dive into interpersonal interactions and what barriers can be present that tend to obstruct our abilities to communicate, especially when confronted by an individual who is elevated in their temperament. This session will explore the breakdown of how we as humans communicate, what lived experiences can affect our interactions with other people, and how trauma relates to crisis communication.

Throughout thesession, concepts and ideas to work through conflict will be explored as well as a look at what physically and psychologically can happen to us when we are scared, nervous, or angry that can become a significant barrier to de-escalation.

This session will be supported by lived experiences and stories to help emphasize what communication concepts can work during crisis and what may not be as effective. 

Tad Hoeschen has 28 years of law enforcement experience as a police officer in Kansas and Minnesota having worked as a patrol officer, investigator, school resource officer, community engagement officer, and has been an instructor in firearms, defensive tactics, mobile field force, active threat response, and was a SWAT team member for 10 years.  

As a Sergeant, Tad has led teams in both patrol response, and community engagement including a mental health response unit, threat liaison unit, and crime prevention unit. Tad has a bachelor’s degree in Communication studies from South Dakota State University and a master’s degree in Criminal Justice Leadership from Concordia University- St Paul.