Hostage Negotiations for the Street Cop

The public at large generally sees negotiations as the traditional hostage situation. This kind of incident was made most famous in the movie "Dog Day Afternoon". However, this is only a small percentage of the overall negotiations that occur across the globe. Negotiations comes into play in barricaded subjects, hostage takers, suicidal subjects and varying other incidents. Negotiations can be the most stressful time in any officers career. Even if an officer is not a member of an organized team, they will eventually be placed into a situation where they will have to negotiate with someone in a stressful situation. This can be a bank robbery gone wrong or a domestic crisis that has escalated. No matter the situation, the officer must use every tool at there disposal. The most important in this case is there brain.

I have been a police officer for 15 years. During that time I have been on our departments hostage negotiations team two separate times. I am currently the commander of our Crisis Negotiations Team. That is the current hot name for hostage negotiations. No matter the title, we still do the negotiations. I have had the privilege of working with and being trained by some of the best negotiators in the country. I was fortunate enough to go through a school taught by Frank Bolz Jr. His name may not ring any bells, but he one of the founders of the first negotiations unit for the New York City Police Department and was involved in many of that city's most famous negotiations incidents, including the one "Dog Day Afternoon" was based.

When a first responding officer arrives at a scene, their initial mindset is to solve the problem. The is one of the traits that makes police officers unique among the public, they like and are good at solving problems. When an officer is faced with a hostage taker, barricaded subject or suicidal person (HT/B/S) situation they can still rely on the ability to solve problems, but they must remember that time is their biggest ally. Do not rush in and do not try to be a hero.

First Things First

The first thing any officer must do is determine which type of situation, HT/B/S, they have. An established perimeter is essential. Ideally an inner and outer perimeter is wanted. The inner perimeter will be used by the tactical or SWAT team members. The outer perimeter is for command, negotiations and logistics personnel. Depending on what size department you have some type of perimeter is a must. Once you have established a perimeter, an officer should then begin to collect information for Command, SWAT and Negotiations team members. Information is vital in determining how each team will proceed once they have arrived. To explain more on each response would require much more than is needed for a first responder. The basic information needed would include: How many people are involved (i.e. hostage takers, hostages, suicidal subjects, barricaded subjects, etc.), any injuries to any parties, was a criminal act involved, what caused this incident ( negotiators are looking for the stressor ), are there any persons not at the scene that can provide intelligence and if at all possible, the names and information on any of the hostage takers, hostages, suicidal subjects or barricaded subjects.

Making Contact

One thing officers should already know, Command staff, Swat teams and Negotiation teams do not assemble quickly. At my department many of our teams members work regular patrol and often times they are on duty when an incident originates. This allows us to have a quick response time, however, many members still require up to 30 minutes to respond. The teams will then have to gear up, gather intelligence and then proceed to their respective posts. All told, it will take at best an hour from the time the incident starts until the crisis teams take over. During this time, hopefully you have been making use of your time.
If at all possible, do not attempt to negotiate with anyone. You can try to gather additional information for the responding teams. You can also make contact with the H/B/S. When you do this, make normal conversation. Ask questions that you would ask at any other call, i.e. "What is your name?", "What is your date of birth?", "What's happening today?", "Why are we here?". These are basic information questions and will not cause anybody to do anything they were not already planning. Questions to avoid include, " What can I do to help you?", "Can I get you anything?" or "What will it take to end this?". These questions make it appear as though you are the one in charge and can get the HT/B/S what they want. This creates obstacles for the trained negotiator and takes away the tools that they need to achieve a positive conclusion. One thing that each responder should know is that it is okay to ask a suicidal person if they want to kill themselves. The old doctrine stated that you should never ask this question because it was believed that the question put the idea in their mind or actually pushed them into doing the act. This is false. If they did not already have the idea then you would not be there and you are not going to push them into doing something they haven't already been thinking or planning. Often times, this is a cry for help and they just need someone to listen to them. While it is not the glamorous side of the job, is there a glamorous side, it is part of our jobs. Just remember, normal conversation and tone of voice and don't make promises.

Turning the Scene Over

The most critical time is turning the scene over to a negotiator. The command staff will have setup several blocks away and you nor the HT/B/S will have any idea when they are ready or exactly what they are doing. The SWAT team will have taken over the inner perimeter and if things go correctly neither one of you will know that they have gotten into place. The point that both of you will be aware of is when the negotiations team takes over. This is very delicate. There must be an introduction and the exchange must be seamless. A well practiced negotiations team will make this seem like the easiest part of what you have done. Ideally a negotiator will pass you a note letting you know that they are just about ready. They should basically give you a countdown. When they tell you it is time, they should provide you with a script to follow that will make it easier. A good transition line would be similar to this, " John or Jane Doe, I have someone here that wants to talk to you. They can help you more than I can. His or Her name is John or Jane Officer. They are going to get on the phone now. I look forward to talking to you face to face in a little while". You are not being downgraded or made less important when you tell the person that a negotiator can help more than you can. The negotiators have a direct link to the command staff and they are the final decision makers. Also, you are being very helpful to the negotiator by saying this and letting the HT/B/S know that the negotiator is the person they most need in this situation. The last lines lets them know that you believe that everything will work out and the two of you will talk later. It is an upbeat point to end on in a stressful situation.

Every officer has the ability to do this. You deal with stressful situations everyday and handle them with the utmost professionalism. These are no different and only require that you be prepared for the inevitable when it occurs. The best way to prepare is to go through a basic negotiations course. If that is not possible then occasionally run scenarios through your mind while having some downtime. You play out scenarios in your mind for bank robberies, homicides and other crisis incidents, why not this too.