AMHERST, Mass. - Learning alternative methods for handling difficult situations is the goal behind a de-escalation training course for western Massachusetts police officers.

The UMass Amherst Police Department, along with police officers from across the area, participated in a three-day course at the UMass Amherst Campus Center. Officers practiced situations ranging from traffic violations to domestic calls inside of family homes.

Instructor Jason Taylor said de-escalation programs will benefit the community by having officers learn better communication tactics when dealing with highly stressful scenarios, whether it be approaching intoxicated college students or identifying people by their proper pronouns.

"When I'm dealing with individuals, if I get into a heated argument or a situation that's pretty high intensity, we're kind of the calm of the storm," Taylor said. "We can look at it, we can bring the situation down and hopefully resolve it in the safest means possible."

Taylor said de-escalation, in addition to words, is also about making sure the situation as safe as possible for both the people as well as law enforcement. He said there is a lot of political division when to comes to policing, so it's important to build a strong rapport with the community so officers can perform at their best.

"We have tons of viewpoints that people might not necessarily understand law enforcement culture," Taylor said. "Well, how we can bridge that gap again is how we can study culture kind of bridge the gap ourselves. So I can learn something about individuals I deal with and maybe it'll bring the situation down a little bit faster."

Taylor said he hopes to have more de-escalation training sessions in the future and hopes more law enforcement will sign up if and when more classes are available.