Running head: TERROR
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Terror Pursuit
Student’s Name
Institution Affiliation
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Terror Pursuit
Correction centers are highly secured areas that require a lot of prudence and brevity to
manage. The facilities should have a well-coordinated staff that is equipped abundantly to
respond to emergencies. The case of Mr. Alfredo Albondigas is one that entails a quick response
by the Corrections Entry Reaction Team (CERT) so as to save the lives of the facility
maintenance officers. The CERT has an option to kill Albondigas and the officers to avert the
problem. A decision to attack Albondigas violently raises ethical questions because the officers
held hostage would get harmed or even killed as a collateral damage in the pursuit. For this
reason, the CERT is prompted to use procedural methods to ensure the safety of the officers by
either containing or killing Mr. Albondigas. Whereas terminating the life of Albondigas is
ethically incorrect, his actions are risky to the residents. For this reason, eliminating Albondigas
is one of the options, though inappropriate that the CERT is left with to pursue in addressing the
problem. The incident is similar to one of a terror attack that entails holding innocent people
hostage. In such situations, the security personnel who are in charge of the operation are
supposed to follow certain procedures to cause the least damage and eliminate the danger.
However, the incident under study is special because the administration has an opportunity to
talk to Mr. Albondigas, who is the target of the CERT. The demands of Mr. Albondigas are to
oust aliens out of prison to guarantee the safety of his captives. The scene is also equated to a
kidnapper who confines individuals and demanding ransom from relatives or officials. Cases
involving threats and the security of individuals require a systematic and careful performance of
a qualified task-force.
Mental State of the offender
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The offender claims that there are aliens in his cells. There are chances that Mr.
Albondigas has mental challenges that make him perceive the presence of the aliens in the cells.
The prisoner expects the administration to drive the aliens away, something that is practically
impossible for the officers. The inability of the staff to meet the demands of the inmate
intensifies the insecurity of the hostages because Albondigas may resolve to hurt the
maintenance officers.
Mr. Albondigas could be suffering from Intermittent Stress Disorder (IED). People who
are affected by the disorder display violent behaviors when they are angered. Their aggression is
unpremeditated and impulsive (Ruggiero, 2008). The victims of the disorder over-react to
situations at the slightest provocation. In some instances, the outburst is caused by things that do
not exist including paranoia. The concern of Mr. Albondigas is that there are aliens in his room,
something that cannot be determined nor resolved. This situation makes him cause a fracas by
kidnapping the facility officers.
Mr. Albondigas could also be suffering from a form of psychological trauma. Victims of
this condition exhibit some traits of depression which destabilizes their mental condition. As a
result of their situation, they get angered easily and can be violent (Paquin, 2005). People with
such traits should seek the services of psychologists for guidance.
Type of Medical Personnel
In a crime-scene setting, it is important to have a medical team in place who can offer
emergency intervention in case there are injuries (Doyle, 2010). The major purpose of the
medical personnel is to attend to the security personnel who may be injured in the process of
pursuing the terrorist. However, the choice of the medics is influenced by the nature of the
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situation and the type of risks involved. If the attacks are made using chemical weapons, the
medics to be chosen are those who are specialized in the area. When the risks of the operation
include physical injuries such as those by gun-shots, it is important to include surgeons who can
offer immediate assistance to the victims.
A mental health practitioner is one of the important medics that should accompany the
CERT. The expert will offer guidance to the CERT on the mental condition of the attacker. The
professional will also advise the members of the CERT on how to proceed with the execution of
their plan based on his evaluation. Sedation is one of the approaches that can be used to contain
Mr. Albondigas. If the psychologist determines that the attacker is tamable by making him
inactive, it is important for him to use a medical intervention to make him unconscious.
The medics who are to take part in the operation should be members who are trained on
matters terrorism and security matters. They should be conversant with the language used by
soldiers. They should also be able-bodied people who can challenge an attacker physically. This
choice will ensure that in the case of a confrontation. The medics can secure themselves using
military antiques. The medical team should also be ready to offer advice to the security personnel
on risky matters.
Deadline without solution
Attackers or terrorists normally issue deadlines to people they seek to intimidate. The
issuance of deadlines is meant to prompt action from their opponents and to have their demands
made (Seinfield, 1996). In some cases, the kidnappers decide to harm their hostages while in
others; they tend to extend their deadline to give the team more time to respond to their concerns.
However, the security team that is in a confrontation with the kidnappers tends to take long to
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meet the demands of the kidnappers. The psychological motive of the security team and
negotiators is the idea that the kidnappers are humans who are subject to manipulation and
fatigue. Prolonging the period of response is meant to tire the kidnappers and give the security
team an edge over them. However, this is a risky step because failure to meet the deadlines can
lead to loss of the lives of hostages.
In my assessment, reaching the deadline without a solution may not make Mr.
Albondigas hurt the maintenance team. His concerns include the release of people who are held
captive. As an individual who understands how the prison works, Mr. Albondigas is likely to be
aware that the procedure of freeing people from cells is long, making him patient with his
opponents. The members pursuing Mr. Albondigas should, therefore, assure him that the
necessary steps to address his concerns are underway and that he should give his opponents time
to meet the logistical demands to have them released.
The faith that Mr. Albondigas will not hurt the maintenance team does not alleviate the
danger and the problem. There should be an active progress towards luring him to accept other
offers with the aim of looking into his concerns in the long-run. The communication and giving
alternative offers is just a strategy to make Mr. Albondigas ready to have a candid discussion
with the members of the security team. However, there should be efforts to make Mr. Albondigas
drop his weapon so they could talk without exposing each other to danger.
Psychologically, Mr. Albondigas understands that he is a lone wolf and that in case of a
brutal fight, he will be the definite loser. His death will not meet his concerns but rather worsen
the situation. The team pursuing Mr. Albondigas should capitalize on this idea to make advances
to intimidate him when necessary and draw him to the negotiation table. The process should be
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treated as a strategy to lure him to a discussion with the intention of pinning him down and
alleviating the danger to the members of the maintenance team held hostage by Albondigas.
Mr. Albondigas is unlikely to hurt the members of the maintenance team because of the
imminent consequence. His concerns are human, meaning that he is worried with his well-being
and safety. He is most likely aware that hurting his hostages will make his opponents kill him, a
situation that may get him to have second thoughts about making an excellent move to execute
his threats. In such a case, the team running the task should not be quick to respond positively to
Mr. Albondigas’ demands as the problem is manageable. Since Mr. Albondigas is an inmate, he
is aware that he is also confined in a room, and that any mistake he will commit such as hurting
the maintenance officers will not make it difficult for the security personnel to pin him down.
Besides, the nature of his weapon is not fatal such as the ones held by the security officers which
are efficient than his.
People to bring to the scene
The use of third parties can be effective in the process of luring Mr. Albondigas to drop
his hard stance and listen to the security team. The people who can be used in such a case are
those who are familiar with Alfredo Albondigas. For instance, fellow inmates who are close to
Albondigas can be used to influence him to be less violent and consider engaging in a
conversation rather than hurt the maintenance officers. However, the inmates should be coached
on what to say to Albondigas so as to convince him.
Another person who can be useful in the process is the senior-most member of the
administration of the facility. People understand that some individuals have the power to cover
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for their mistakes and in some cases pardon them. The administration can be used to assure Mr.
Albondigas that no action will be taken against him if he offers to set his hostages free.
Approach as a negotiator
Security experts argue that it is not advisable for a sovereign body to compromise their
stance to please attackers (Goulston, 2015). There has been a common trend whereby terrorists
hold prominent people hostage with the intention of intimidating the authorities to pay ransom
for their release. Whereas the lives of the hostages are valuable, the sovereign body, say the state
faces a moral dilemma whether to make the payment or to refuse to compromise. Security
experts and criminal justice scholars argue that getting into negotiations with terrorists
undermines the patriots who have sought to stabilize their countries through peaceful means
(Perry, 2010). The talks with people who are up to demolishing the country undermine the
efforts to maintain both national and international security as it will hinder the process of
outlawing terrorism. In fact, laying low with the intention of making the terrorists feel superior
will set negative precedents, which in turn will encourage more groups to walk down the same
path with the intention of receiving economic benefits (Bloom, 2012).
Cases of sovereign countries negotiating with terrorists are not unique. The British
government, a democratic stake kept a secret to the Irish Republican Army concerning an attack
on the Downing Street. The revelations of the ordeal nearly removed the entire cabinet. In Spain,
the government convened a meeting with the Basque Homeland and Freedom Team (ETA), after
the terror group had caused deaths in a bombing incident. The government of Israel also went
down to book to negotiate secretly with the Palestine Liberation Organization when it resolved to
deny the existence of Israel as a sovereign government. It is critical to acknowledge that the
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Israeli administration is not soft on terrorism, but the government made the decision to discuss
with them. Such cases make allude to the fact that in some cases, it is essential to listen to the
concerns of terrorists even if the move undermines the security regulations of a country (Piano,
2007).
In the case of Mr. Albondigas, the security personnel should assess the situation on the
risks involved when making a confrontation against him. However, the assessment can only be
made by engaging in a continued discussion with him so as to make a determination on his
brutality and intentions. It should be noted that in as much as terrorists cause damage to send a
message to their opponents their human nature makes them make mistakes to their peril and can
be distracted (Healey, 2003). Causing distractions as one strategy that can be used to buy time as
the security personnel makes a decision on how to handle the problem. The scheme to deal with
Mr. Albondigas should not use violence as this may cause more damage and expose the lives of
the hostages to danger. A conversation between the security personnel and Mr. Albondigas,
which does not necessarily translate to meeting his demands, will give positive leads to the
soldiers to catch up with him.
The pursuit against Mr. Albondigas should be tender to make him conceive the idea that
the security forces are not intending to kill him. The understanding will motivate him to address
his concerns and why he his holding the hostages. The security forces should them ask him to
make his demands with a promise of considering them. The decision to listen to Mr. Albondigas
is a strategy to obtain more information from him on the state of affairs of the entire situation. In
as much as the information can be used to determine whether to compromise to Mr. Albondigas’
advantage, it can also be utilized to scheme a confrontation against him. The discussion should
be used as an approach to lure him as the security team moves closer to ground him.
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In the conversation with Mr. Albondigas, the negotiating team should mostly agree to his
terms. The move to agree to his demands is meant to make Mr. Albondigas become less violent
and keep the hostages safe. However, the negotiators should not be quick to fulfill their promises
to Mr. Albondigas. As they move closer to the point of the prisoners, the negotiators can execute
small offers as sacrifices to lure Albondigas. For instance, a small payment that is not necessarily
a ransom can be made to act as goodwill to trick Mr. Albondigas to drop his hard stance.
Another objective of the mission is to have the enemy in sight. The conversation between
the negotiators and Mr. Albondigas should be progressive, long and repetitive to buy time as
they move closer to him. Having him in sight enables the security personnel to make a decision
whether to attack or be gentle based on a general assessment of the environment, particularly the
security situation of the scene. The team should not be quick to attack because of an imminent
retaliation by the opponent which may cause more harm to the hostages (Langwith, 2010). If the
security personnel determine that the danger attributed to attacking Mr. Albondigas is low, they
can decide to pursue to kill him. However, if he is required to provide more information to the
team, they can injure him with the intention of destabilizing the terrorist, capture and lock him,
up in a highly secured area.
Conclusion
Negotiating with violent people and terrorists is a risky process that raises both ethical
and security concerns. People who negotiate with such persons should be intelligent and possess
good communication skills. The case of Mr. Albondigas and the security personnel is one that
requires the CERT to be prudent and cautious when they approach the attacker. In the execution
of the security action, the CERT should be accompanied by medical practitioners that will assist
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in assessing the mental condition of the attacker. Nurses are also essential in this case to offer
their services in case anyone gets injured. Based on his actions, Mr., Albondigas is suffering
from Internment Explosive Disorder of Psychological trauma. It is upon the members of the
medical team to make this determination and prescribe the approach to be taken to ensure the
CERT team is safe from possible attacks. For the communication with Mr. Albondigas to be
efficient and bear fruits, the members of the CERT should use fellow inmates and senior officials
of the facility to lure the attacker. Part of the conversation should entail assuring Mr. Albondigas
that the imaginative danger that makes him paranoid will be removed. Efforts should also be
made to promise Mr. Albondigas that he will be secured from possible intrusion or spies. In as
much as the CERT team has a green light to kill the attacker, they should not make a move
prematurely. They should resolve to terminate his life as a last option because protecting human
rights is one of the fundamental principles that correctional facilities should observe. The agenda
of the CERT team should be to protect lives and, therefore, the execution process should be
handled diligently with minimal damage or loss of lives.
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References
Bloom, S. (2012). Violence. Karnac Books.
Doyle, A. C. (2010). Tales of terror and mystery. Auckland, N.Z.: Floating Press.
Goulston, M. (2015). Talking to crazy: How to deal with the irrational and impossible people in
your life. New York : American Management Association
Healey, J. (2003). Violence. Roselle, N.S.W: Spinney Press.
Langwith, J. (2010). Violence. Farmington Hills, MI: Greenhaven Press.
Paquin, E. (2005). The violence. Boise, Idaho: Ahsahta Press, Boise State University.
Perry, M. (2010). Talking to terrorists: Why America must engage with its enemies. New York:
Basic Books.
Piano, D. (2007). Violence. Detroit: Greenhaven Press.
Ruggiero, A. (2008). Mental health. Detroit: Greenhaven Press.
Seinfeld, J. (1996). Containing rage, terror, and despair: An object relations approach to
psychotherapy. Northvale, N.J: Jason Aronson.