Jose Alfonso

Owner, Empower Communications Group

Jose Alfonso is a retired 30-year veteran of the Boston Police Department and is the owner and founder of Empower Communications Group. Mr. Alfonso presented a workshop on de-escalation strategies at last year’s WATS Conference in Orlando, Florida. He is a highly respected retired law enforcement officer holding state and nationally recognized certifications as a police trainer with a dedication to excellence that is acknowledged by his peers in law enforcement.

Mr. Alfonso completed his career as a Boston Police Officer assigned to the Boston Police Academy from August 10th, 2004 to June 4th, 2021. While assigned as an academy trainer, he participated in several committees for the Municipal Police Training Committee in Massachusetts researching and developing training curriculums for both recruit and veteran officer in-service training. As a law enforcement trainer, he holds several instructor certifications in disciplines such as use of force/defensive tactics, patrol response to active shooter events and S.P.E.A.R (Spontaneous Protection Enabling Accelerated Response). In early 2021, as a response to the increased number of unruly passenger incidents that were occurring in the airline industry, “Communication Strategies for Airline Professionals” was created by Jose Alfonso and Darryl Owens. Mr. Owens is a veteran Boston police officer and law enforcement trainer holding state and nationally recognized certifications working at the Boston police academy. The course was taught to all Spirit Airline Flight Attendants during S3 training from September 2021 through June 2022 and is part of all initial flight attendant training for Spirit Airlines.

L.O.U.D.E.R. - Recognizing the Signs

At last years conference we introduced the L.O.U.D.E.R principle from our course “Communication Strategies for Airline Professionals. The course was created as a direct response to a study by the Federal Aviation Administration on unruly passengers in early 2021. The objective of the course is to empower airline professionals with real skills and awareness to manage difficult situations while remaining safe and facilitating the de-escalation of guests/passenger’s behaviors when in crisis, ultimately avoiding conflict.

This year our presentation will be called “Recognizing the Signs”. Why focus on this subject? Recognizing the signs is part of the de-escalation process. In most cases where an assault occurs, there are certain body cues a person sends prior to the assault without knowing that they are doing so. The identification and the response to these body cues is essential for cabin crew safety. During the presentation at WATS 2023 we will identify and discuss certain body cues as well as work through the response. The response will focus on the four R’s (Read the guest, Relax through box breathing, Relate and Reassure). The presentation will be an interactive presentation involving participation from the audience.