Can a Good Negotiator Really Make a Difference

Selection and Training of a Crisis Negotiation TeamBob Sherman

One of the most effective, yet often underused tools a police agency has at its disposal is a highly trained and well equipped Crisis Negotiation Team (CNT). Developed and refined over the past 25 years, crisis negotiators havesuccessfully resolved tens of thousands of hostage incidents, kidnappings,barricades and attempted suicides.

While there is usually no questionregarding the funding, training and equipment that is earmarked for tactical teams, CNTs are typically denied the same resources. For obvious liability and safety reasons, administrators must ensure that their CNT members are properly selected, thoroughly equipped and trained to work side-by-side with tactical teams.

The FBI's Hostage Barricade Statistics (HOBAS) indicate that a majority of the time, most police Crisis Negotiation Teams DO NOT encounter stereotypical "hostage" situations in which a person is held by a hostage taker for a substantive demand. To the contrary, HOBAS shows that most agencies encounter what has been termed as "non-hostage" incidents. These incidents are those in which there are no substantive demands, but where a person is in a heightened emotional state and has lost their coping skills. These incidents include domestic violence, trapped criminals, circumstances involving the mentally ill and suicide attempts.

These “non-hostage” incidents tend to occur on a more frequent basis than a "hostage" situation. Therefore, departments must be prepared by having officers that are well trained and properly equipped in order to achieve a successful resolution.

Crisis Negotiation Team (CNT) Leadership

One of the most important considerations for a properly trained and equippedCNT is the selection of the team leader. It is recommended that the CNTleader be of equal rank to the tactical team leader. The reasoning: having one team leader hold a higher rank over the other could be an inhibiting factor when managing a critical incident. Also, the higher ranking member will often have more influence with the on-scene commander, and may ignore recommendations of the lower ranking supervisor. The CNT leader must haveexcellent communication skills and be an expert in the field ofnegotiations, possess a thorough knowledge of current procedures formanaging crisis incidents and must have an understanding of human behaviorthat focuses on the mentally ill. They must be able to select new teammembers, provide in-service training, and secure equipment. They must alsostay current on crisis incidents unfolding around the country and constantly

review negotiation related literature.

Crisis Negotiation Team (CNT) Selection

The selection of CNT members should be based on criteria set forth by the

National Council of Negotiation Associations (NCNA) in 2001. The NCNA

recommends that negotiators should be volunteers, have a high level of self

control, be able to remain calm under stress, have excellent interpersonal

communication skills, have a calm and confident demeanor, and must work well

in a team concept. It is interesting to note, however, that in a survey ofover 600 crisis negotiators conducted in February 1992 by the BaltimoreCounty, Maryland, Police Department and the FBI, fewer than half (45%) of negotiation teams had any written policy for the selection of negotiators.

Crisis Negotiation Team (CNT) Training

Training a CNT is as equally important as the selection of the team. A 40hour basic crisis negotiations course is the first step. The CNT membersmust then participate in specialized in-service classes and train inrole-playing exercises. They must learn how to perform duties as a primarynegotiator, a coach, team leader and investigator. Negotiators must beallowed to attend national or regional seminars and conferences. Attendingtraining such as this allows members to interact with other negotiators andreview incidents from around the country. The previously mentioned 1992survey showed that 61% of the Crisis Negotiation Teams (CNTs) spent less than 5 days a year incontinuing crisis negotiation training; 44% of that training was conductedat the agency level.

The FBI Crisis Negotiation Unit (CNU) recommends that once a team has been selected, there should be aminimum of three negotiators that respond to a critical incident. One teammember will act as the primary negotiator. This person will be the one whoactually has a dialog with the subject. The second team member will be acoach or secondary negotiator. The coach aids the primary negotiator inestablishing an effective communication strategy when talking to the subjectin crisis. The third responding member should be the team leader. The teamleader will assist in planning the overall negotiation strategy. If anagency's budget permits, additional negotiators can be added to the team.

It has been documented over the years that officers, victims and hostagetakers face the biggest risk of injury or death during a tacticalintervention. Eighty seven percent of all hostage incidents involvingvictims are peacefully resolved through the negotiation process, and 90% ofall critical incidents are resolved with no loss of life (HOBAS June 2001).

With this in mind, it is imperative that law enforcement agencies carefullyselect crisis negotiation team members, and equip and train them to the samelevel as their SWAT counterparts. Failure to do so may open an agency andits members to liability issues that could have been otherwise avoidable.

Bob began his career in the USAF where he served as law enforcementspecialist for eleven years. His interest in negotiations began in the mid80's when he was a counselor at a suicide hotline in Fort Worth, Texas. Heattended several negotiation courses taught by the FBI and eventually became
a police negotiator for the USAF. In 1992, Bob left the military andattended a police academy where he graduated as the Valedictorian andDistinguished Recruit. He was hired by the Burleson Police Department andhas worked there since 1993. Bob is the senior sergeant in the Departmentand serves as the crisis negotiations team leader. He is also the VicePresident of Public Relations for the Texas Association of HostageNegotiators.