122 W H A T EVERY BODY IS SAYING
BOX 31: THE WRONG ARMS OF THE LAWPeople who question the power of nonverbals to affect the behaviors of
others might want to consider what happens when police use the arms-
akimbo display at the wrong times. There are situations when using it can
not only destroy police officers’ effectiveness, but also endanger their
lives.
Subconsciously, arms akimbo is a powerful display of authority and
dominance, as well as a claim to territory. During a domestic dispute, if a
police officer performs this display, it tends to exacerbate the feelings of
those in the house and may escalate the situation. This is particularly true
if the officer exhibits this posture in a doorway, blocking the exit of the
homeowners. Territorial displays such as arms akimbo arouse passions,
since “every man’s home is his castle,” and no “king” wants an outsider
controlling his space.
Another potentially dangerous situation relating to the use of the
arms-akimbo display involves young police officers who are taken off of
their regular patrol duties to work undercover. When these undercover
neophytes enter an establishment for the first time, such as a bar they
are attempting to infiltrate, they may stand with arms akimbo. While this
is something they are accustomed to doing, they have not earned the
right to engage in such an authoritarian or territorial display among those
they don’t know. They advertise inadvertently that they are cops or the
heat. Interviews with numerous criminals have revealed that this territo-
rial arm display is one of the things they look for in trying to make (iden-
tify) undercover officers. Except for those in authority, most civilians
rarely stand with arms akimbo. I always remind training officers and su-
pervisors to be aware of this and make sure that undercover officers are
broken of this habit so they do not give away who they are and place their
lives in peril.