It’s a class advertised as “the New Face of De-Escalation,” but it was at a familiar stop on the evening of June 6 — the Killingworth Volunteer Fire Company. For the second time in two years, former Lt. Ray Hassett (ret.) of the New Haven Police Dept. brought his three-hour course to first-responders in Killingworth.
With members of the Killingworth Ambulance Association and Killingworth Fire Co. in attendance, Hassett preached the importance of patience, discourse, listening and, ultimately, understanding in responding to persons in crisis situations — an area of expertise for the former policeman.
Hassett teaches the art of hostage negotiations overseas for the U.S. State Dept.
“Where this training helps you to evolve,” he told listeners, “is to step back and say, ‘What am I looking at here?’ When you have that beginning connection, everything changes.”
Hassett had the same message when he appeared in front of Killingworth first-responders in early 2016, and it was so effective then that he was asked to return. With the help of the Killingworth Lions Club, the Ladies Auxiliary, the KWO and the Chamber of Commerce — each of which contributed $200 — Hassett was able to do that.
“I was a lot of different things to a lot of different people,” he said when talking about handling crisis communications, “and I learned more about them than anything else. You don’t talk as much, but you can be effective.”
The class originally was scheduled for mid-March but was postponed due to severe weather.