Crisis Management
Law Enforcement II
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Crisis Management: Part 1
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Most Common
Types of Incidents
Hostage situation – an incident in
which one or more persons take
and unlawfully hold other persons
against their will with the use or
threatened use of force. The
offender may subsequently make
demands to secure his or her
freedom or other items using the
hostages as a bargaining tool.
Generally the location of the
offender and the hostages is
known
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Most Common
Types of Incidents (continued)
• Barricaded persons – an incident in which one or
more persons take refuge at a location and use
force to repel attempts to apprehend them. The
person may subsequently make demands to
secure his or her freedom or other items.
Generally this situation differs from a hostage
situation only in that a hostage has not been taken
• Suicide attempts – a person threatens to cause
death to self by means of firearm or other deadly
weapon
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Most Common
Types of Incidents (continued)
• Active shooters – an incident in which one or more
persons threatens to inflict death or grievous bodily
harm, or inflicts death on one or more victims, in a
single or multiple consecutive acts by means of
firearms or other deadly weapons. These incidents
generally occur at a targeted location against random
victims. It may include the use of explosive devices by
the offender
• Crisis – an unstable or crucial time or state of affairs in
which a decisive change is impending, especially one
with the distinct possibility of a highly undesirable
outcome
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Crisis Negotiations:
First Responder
• Quickly assess the totality of the situation
• Secure the area, both the inner and outer perimeters
• Individuals needing to be interviewed should be in a secure
area to talk to an intelligence negotiator
• Designate a press/media area away from the perimeter and
brief them at length
• Evacuate the immediate area of all uninvolved persons
• If the hostage-taker is in a building, evacuate the building
involved and the adjacent building
• Prevent pedestrian and vehicular traffic
• Seal off all possible escape routes
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Crisis Negotiations:
First Responder (continued)
• Gauge the threat to hostages and/or bystanders
• Request additional personnel
• A SWAT team needs to be ready to neutralize the threat
• An arrest team needs to be ready to take action
• Evacuate injured persons
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Crisis Negotiations:
Officer in Charge
Makes decisions regarding police action
• Authorizes the use of force and chemical agents
• Makes decisions regarding demands from the hostage-taker
• Shall not comply with the following demands:
– No weapons will be provided; the hostage-taker may be bluffing
with an unloaded or an imitation firearm
– No additional hostages will be given and exchanges of hostages
will be done cautiously
– The hostage-taker cannot remove a hostage to a location where
the police are not able to react immediately
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Crisis Negotiations:
Officer in Charge (continued)
• Establishes a command post
• Secures the inner and outer perimeters
• Gains as much information as possible about the
hostage-taker
• Is certain the hostage-taker knows that officers are
present, but does not know their strategies
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Crisis Negotiations:
Officer in Charge (continued)
Determines the need for
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Additional personnel including personnel from other agencies
Deployment of officers and vehicles
Special equipment
Control of utilities (water, electricity, telephone)
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The telephone is important for negotiators to control
Darkening to provide tactical advantage
Eliminates comforts (toilets, heat, AC)
Inability to monitor TV
Keeps from neutralizing chemical agents
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Crisis Negotiations:
Crisis Negotiators
Characteristics of a negotiator
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High level of self-control
Ability to remain calm while stressed
Excellent interpersonal communication skills
Calm and confident demeanor
Good listener and interviewer
Team player
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Crisis Negotiations:
Negotiation Team Members
• Primary negotiator – communicates with the hostage-taker
• Secondary negotiator – assists the primary by offering
advice, monitoring negotiations, keeping notes, and ensuring
that the primary sees and hears everything in the proper
perspective
• Intelligence negotiator – interviews the persons associated
with the suspect to compile a criminal history, a history of
mental illness, and other relevant information
• Additional negotiator – the “chief negotiator,” whose primary
responsibility is to act as a buffer between command
personnel and the negotiations team
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Crisis Negotiations:
Negotiator Duties
• Tries to reduce the number of people involved and only
talks to the leader of the hostage-taker
• Tries to buy time (i.e., refer to a higher up as the
ultimate decision maker)
• Attempts to ease personal animosity which the
hostage-taker may have towards the police or anyone
else involved
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Crisis Negotiations:
Negotiator Duties (continued)
• Is confident and avoids the appearance of weakness (if
possible never give away anything without getting
something in return)
• Utilizes delicate prodding, such as, “What if…” or, “How
can I sell your request to my boss?”
• Asks the hostage-taker how the problem can be
resolved
• Never criticizes the ideas of the hostage-taker or
attempt to impose your own values
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Crisis Negotiations:
Negotiator Duties (continued)
• Negotiates everything (food, water, heat)
• Keeps the hostage-taker making decisions even on
minor issues (if food is wanted, what kind does the
hostage-taker want, what does the hostage-taker want
on pizza, etc.)
• Provides the hostage-taker with the method of
communication for negotiations (telephone, radio).
Make sure the device is restricted to transmit/receive
only with the negotiators
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Crisis Negotiations:
Deadlines and Demands
• Decisions must be made based on
• Law
• Department policy
• Need for the preservation of life and property
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Steps of Crisis Negotiations:
Assess the Situation
Prevent early harm
– Obtain the briefing from the officer in charge
– Ensure that police actions do not harm the hostages
or the hostage-takers
– Negotiators are concerned with hostage safety and
not with the apprehension of the hostage-taker
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Steps of Crisis Negotiations:
Assess the Situation (continued)
Get organized
• Establish contact with the subjects
– Effective methods of communication include
» Cell phones
» Radios
» Runners
» Throwphones
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Steps of Crisis Negotiations:
Assess the Situation (continued)
Get organized (continued)
• Establish contact with the subjects (continued)
– Phone lines are essential for police control
» Arrange with the telephone company to deny origination to
telephones at the subject’s disposal
» The subject will no longer have a dial tone
» The phone company establishes a new number that is a direct
line between the negotiators and the subject
» This prohibits talk with family, friends, attorneys, and the press
» This prevents the gathering of information about the police
maneuvers from associates
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Steps of Crisis Negotiations:
Assess the Situation (continued)
• Get organized (continued)
• Establish contact with the subjects (continued)
– Find information using all available sources
» The number and the names of the hostage-takers
» What they are demanding
» What they really want
» Their emotional state
» How close they are to harming the hostages
» The numbers and the general health of the hostages
• Locate a permanent position if negotiations will take a long time
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Steps of Crisis Negotiations:
Getting Close
Create normality
• The scene may be chaotic and panicked; negotiators
seek to create calm
• Talk in a calm voice
• Use good listening skills
• Seek normality among emotions – a space where
hostage-takers can talk with the hostage negotiator
as a reasonable person
• Always be there and ready to talk
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Steps of Crisis Negotiations:
Getting Close (continued)
• Create humanity
• Listen uncritically to the hostage-taker
• Accept a hostage-taker as he or she is
• Once humanity is established, discuss the well-being
of the hostages
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Steps of Crisis Negotiations:
Getting Close (continued)
Develop authority
• Hostage negotiators position
themselves as an authority figure
• Become authoritative on behalf of the
hostage-taker (getting communication
and food)
• Later become authoritative with the
hostage-taker (this is dangerous
because the hostage-taker wants to be
in charge)
• If authority can be established, the
negotiator may attempt to direct the
hostage-taker’s actions
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Steps of Crisis Negotiations:
Developing the Scene
• Take small steps towards building trust and
relationships
• Needed items such as food may be provided
• Conversation with a hostage may be requested
• Speed of talking may be sped up or slowed down
depending on the circumstances
– Sped up if persons are injured
– Slowed down on delivery of requested items
• Manage stress
• Stress and tension will exist during negotiations
• Reduce stress to create hostage safety
• Increase stress to wear down hostage-takers
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Steps of Crisis Negotiations:
Developing the Scene (continued)
Explore solutions
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Discuss what will resolve the situation
May ask the hostage-taker his or her thoughts on a solution
Negotiators may offer their suggestions
Safe release of the hostages is important
The goal of the hostage-taker may be to escape, to receive
publicity or to gain materially. If the goal is not acceptable,
alternatives must be found
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Steps of Crisis Negotiations:
Developing the Scene (continued)
Releasing the hostages
– Wear the hostage-taker down
• Talk, talk, talk
• High emotions are followed by exhaustion
• The ideal situation ends with hostage release
– Release the Weak
• Releasing children, the elderly, or those with medical conditions
shows that the hostage-takers are not “bad” people
– Concessions for people
• Offer an exchange of people for other concessions such as food or
publicity
• If the hostage-taker receives something they have demanded, a
release of hostages may follow
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Steps of Crisis Negotiations:
Developing the Scene (continued)
Releasing the hostages
(continued)
– Final assault
• If no clear exchange can be
reached
• If it looks like hostages will be
killed
• Determine when negotiations
will be stopped and tactical
operations enacted
• Some hostages may be killed
• If the benefit of a tactical assault
outweighs the potential harm
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Crisis Management: Part 2
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Communication Techniques
• Opening the conversation
– Introduce yourself and your role in the negotiations
– Ask them easy questions
– Ask about them
• Knowing his or her name
– Find out his or her name ahead of time if possible
– If not, ask his or her name
– Use his or her name in negotiations in order to
connect with him or her
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Communication Techniques
(continued)
• Building rapport
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Listen
Deliver on your promises
Use his or her name
Use parroting and/or paraphrasing
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Communication Techniques
(continued)
Interrupting techniques help gain control of
the conversation
– Clarifying interruption
• Tell them you do not understand
• Repeat what they said
• Then move to what you want to say
– Encouragement interruption
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Exclamations that show interest
Repeat single words or phrases
Ask a question
Use fillers (non-words) like “uh-huh” or “hmmm”
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Communication Techniques
(continued)
Interrupting techniques (continued)
– Question interruption
• Ask questions, preferably closed
• Upon reply, ask another question, or give views on his
or her answer
– Permission interruption
• Ask permission to interrupt
• Example: “That’s a good point, may I add another
thought for you”
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Communication Techniques
(continued)
• Sustaining the conversation
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Ask the hostage-taker’s opinion
Show concern for the hostage-taker
Show interest in the hostage-taker
Discuss plans
• Closing conversation
– Say that the conversation has ended
– Summarize the conversation
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Communication Techniques
(continued)
Listening
– Active listening
• Positive encouragement
– Use silent attention to give time to find words
– Accept his or her emotional state without criticism
– Attentive listening
• Pay attention so the hostage-taker can see that you are
interested in what he or she says
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Communication Techniques
(continued)
Listening (continued)
– Total listening
• Listen for the content and the underlying message
• Respond to the emotional messages that are often hidden
in the content
• If the hostage-taker is in view, watch for nonverbal cues
– Reflecting
• Parroting
• Paraphrasing
– Demonstrate respect
• Listening demonstrates respect most effectively
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Hostage Safety
Time is important
– The more time the hostage-taker spends with the hostages,
the less likely he or she is to take the life of a hostage
– More time passing allows the police to prevent harm
– More time passing allows the hostage-taker to make a
mistake, become apathetic, and/or abandon the confrontation
– Determine the psychological state of the hostage-taker
• A criminal whose escape was blocked during the commission of
a crime
• A psychotic or mentally deranged
• A terrorist with a fanatical cause
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Hostage Safety (continued)
Extreme Hostage Situations
– Hostage-takers have several choices
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Kill the hostages or release them
Kill themselves by their own hand or in a shoot-out
Negotiate a way out (often desired, seldom possible)
Give themselves up
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Hostage Safety (continued)
Time is important (continued)
– If a hostage is killed, the lead negotiator needs to
• Fully assess the situation
• Determine what steps should be taken to immediately
apprehend the hostage-taker
– Did the victim contribute to the act by trying to disarm the
hostage-taker or by antagonizing him?
– What is the mental state of the hostage-taker? Is he
agitated, remorseful, or irrational?
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Public Safety v. Individual Rights
4th Amendment (Mincey v. Arizona)
– Emergencies relating to life and property excused normal
warrant requirements
– Police entered the home without a warrant after hearing a
gun battle when an undercover officer had entered the home
– Officers searched and entered to locate any injured persons,
render medical treatment, and find those responsible
– Search and seizure found to be reasonable under the 4th
amendment without a warrant
– A need to preserve life and prevent serious injury is
justification for what would otherwise be illegal
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Public Safety v. Individual Rights
(continued)
• Admissibility during negotiations: Miranda v. Arizona
– Miranda only applies if the suspect is in custody (under arrest
or restrained in freedom)
– Miranda is only for use in interrogations, not negotiations
• Enforceability of demands
– Negotiators can agree to the demands of the subject without
the government being legally bound
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Public Safety v. Individual Rights
(continued)
Use of Force
– Constitutional Limits: Tennessee v. Garner
• Sanctioned the use of force for the self-defense of others,
or to prevent the escape of a person who committed a
felony involving the infliction of serious bodily injury or
death
• Where probable cause exists, belief that the suspect
poses the threat of serious bodily injury to officers or self,
it is reasonable to use deadly force to prevent escape
• In a hostage situation there is imminent threat to lives or
safety; therefore, deadly force may be used if necessary
to resolve threats
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Resources
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Santa Cruz Regional 9-1-1
www.sccecc.org/training/downloads/Scenarios/Hostage%20Barricade.doc
Melbourne Police Department Crisis Negotiations Unit
www.melbourneflorida.org/police/crisis_negotiations.htm
Truro Police Department
http://www.truropolice.org/On%20Line%20Manuals/Hostages.pdf
Changing Minds
http://changingminds.org/disciplines/negotiation/styles/hostage_negotiations.htm
FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin, Legal Issues in Crisis Management, Jeffrey
Higginbotham, June 1994 http://www.fbi.gov/stats-services/publications/lawenforcement-bulletin/2002-pdfs/nov02leb.pdf
Do an Internet search for the following:
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SWAT team plays out hostage scenario
The ‘Lectric Law Library cjs10
Merriam-Webster
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Resources (continued)
Videos:
• One-on-one with hostage negotiator (4:27 minutes)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HFpjO1R6AWk
• Hostages Released After Barricade Situation (2:42 minutes)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q_kY_HGiyJA
• Raphael Lapin Negotiation Strategies teaches techniques for
communication (5:09 minutes)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y46VsyCzbfQ
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