SAN DIEGO – A training program widely used in corporations to help employees understand their emotions has been introduced in law enforcement agencies, and early indications show use-of-force and other incidents with officers has declined.
Sorrento Valley-based TalentSmartEQ is certifying up to 50 West Virginia law enforcement personnel to be trainers in the program. They in turn will provide mandatory training for up to 3,500 officers in agencies throughout the state, the first in the nation to embrace the program for all law enforcement agencies.
Emotional intelligence, sometimes referred to as emotional quotient, was popularized in a series of best-selling books beginning in 1995 by Daniel Goleman, who referred to the concept as the capacity to recognize one’s own feelings and those of others.
Emotional intelligence was further popularized in books by Travis Bradberry and Jean Greaves, who founded TalentSmartEQ in 2002.
CEO
TalentSmartEQ
Howard Farfel, CEO of TalentSmartEQ since 2020, said the company’s training program has touched about 2.5 million people and is involved with 200 to 300 companies annually.
Farfel said the company began working with clients beyond the corporate world about a decade ago when the U.S. Air Force began using its training.
“The U.S. Air Force has been one of those military branches that has kind of articulated that emotional intelligence was one of the key skills that they wanted all their air men and women to develop,” he said, adding that the training can help create better communication on bases and relieve stress after a deployment.
Likewise for law enforcement, Farfel said.
“We are all human, and it’s about the human connection,” he said.
But while emotions sometimes run high in workplace situations, more is at stake in law enforcement.
Officers who are trained to understand and control their emotions can use that skill to de-escalate volatile and potentially dangerous situations, which can be a lifesaver in law enforcement, he added.
“They started to understand how people’s brains work and how emotions can easily be triggered,” he said. “They take that one extra breath of thinking and processing and controlling one’s emotions.”
West Virginia Connection
Errol Randle was a 25-year veteran of the Charleston Police Department in West Virginia who had worked on a gang task force, the street crimes unit and as a strategic planning officer. He began training new officers in emotional intelligence out of a TalentSmartEQ book.
“He felt that was a skill that would make a difference in policing, relationships with the local community, use of force and all that,” Farfel said.
VP, Law Enforcement & Government
TalentSmartEQ
Randle reached out to the company to help expand the program and was connected with Gregory Campbell, hired in February 2022 as the TalentSmartEQ vice president of law enforcement and government after working with Farfel at the Blanchard Companies as the diversity, equity, and inclusion solutions architect and consulting partner.
Campbell previously worked 27 years as a federal agent handling criminal investigations with the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, where he also oversaw leadership development.
In West Virginia, Campbell worked with Randle to bring the program to all officers in the state, and their effort got a boost in December 2022 when West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin earmarked about $900,000 in federal funds to expand the training statewide.
Expanding it Further
Campbell said law enforcement officers tend to suppress their emotions, although they have higher than averages suicide and divorce rates.
“As a result of that, I believe you have officers who are experiencing high rates of occupational stress burnout and other areas that I think impact their performance,” he said. “And I think emotional intelligence is the answer for a culture that does not encourage officers to seek help internally.”
Unofficial reports have shown the program has made a difference in the Charleston Police Department.
“Information I’ve received from Errol Randle and from leadership in that police department is that use of force incidents has gone down, their officer misconduct complaints have decreased significantly, and officers’ lives outside of work have also improved,” Campbell said.
Training also has been introduced to inmates in West Virginia prisons, which also has shown positive results.
“Inmate-on-inmate assaults have decreased,” Campbell said. “Inmate-on-officers assaults decreased. The overall atmosphere of those prisons just changed. And now we’re training inmates in Florida and Mississippi, and we’re having the same astounding results.”
Campbell said he would like the training to also be provided to correctional officers, which has not happened yet.
The company’s emotional intelligence program also has been introduced in police departments in California, Georgia, Texas, Louisiana, South Dakota, Colorado, the District of Columbia, Michigan, Missouri, Arizona, Florida, Canada and the United Kingdom.
TalentSmartEQ
FOUNDED: 2002
CEO: Howard Farfel
HEADQUARTERS: Sorrento Valley
BUSINESS: Emotional Intelligence Training
FOUNDERS: Travis Bradbury and Gene Graves
EMPLOYEES: 30
WEBSITE: https://www.talentsmarteq.com/
ANNUAL REVENUE: $10 million – $20 million
CONTACT: (858) 509-0582
SOCIAL IMPACT: Law enforcement departments that have used emotional intelligence training have reported fewer on-the-job incidents and lifestyle improvements among officers.
NOTABLE: The company’s training program is used in 75% of all Fortune 500 companies.
