Crisis Negotiations

Leading authorities on negotiations present the result of years of research, application, testing and experimentation, and practical experience. Principles and applications from numerous disciplines are combined to create a conceptual framework for the hostage negotiator. Ideas and concepts are explained so that the practicing negotiator can apply the principles outlined.

The focus of this book is on dealing with hostage and crisis negotiations and how this can be successfully accomplished in order to save lives. Typically, those encountered by correctional and law enforcement crisis negotiators fall into one of three broad categories: The Bad, the Mad, and the Sad – or, those with antisocial personality disorder; those who are severely mentally ill, insane or psychotic; or those who are contemplating suicide, respectively. This book outlines tactics and procedures for dealing with these three groups of individuals. Many excerpts will be found of siege dialogue and behind-the-scenes efforts of those in the command post and other locations whose efforts and energies play an integral role in this life-saving process. Some topics discussed include how using sleep deprivation should be avoided by hostage and crisis negotiators and how it can be used to advantage against the culprits; and how active listening skills (ALS) can be utilized and the mechanics of the process. These ALS guidelines show how being not only a good interviewer but also a good listener can be used to find a remedy to the situation. Team roles and responsibilities are also discussed in some detail. Using “hooks,” or topics/persons that can be used to extract the subject from the crisis, and “hot buttons,” or topics/persons that should be avoided from discussion, is also examined. Several “Lessons Learned” sections are also included after the dialogues, outlining what was learned and achieved in the process and which pitfalls should be avoided. Crisis negotiations has also been included in the book because a growing number of subjects with whom crisis negotiators deal are not holding hostages. While it is not the purpose of this text to review all tactics and techniques of the negotiations process, many examples are provided of what does work and, on occasion, what does not. It will prove to be a very useful tool to corrections and police negotiators and crisis interveners who seek peaceful ends to these very volatile and dangerous situations.

Run a safe and successful crisis negotiation—from start to finish! The Elements of Police Hostage and Crisis Negotiations: Critical Incidents and How to Respond to Them reduces the negotiation procedures for hostage, barricaded, and suicide incidents to their basic elements, providing quick and easy access to the information you need-from the initial call-out to the final debriefing. Based on field-tested principles proven to work, the book also includes newly developed and highly specialized techniques for more experienced negotiators. Author James L. Greenstone provides a user-friendly, step-by-step guide to the intervention and negotiation process that will help you get the job done—right. Designed for day-to-day, on-the-scene use, The Elements of Police Hostage and Crisis Negotiations is a practical handbook for experienced professionals and novices that can also be used as a supplementary textbook for criminal justice, crisis intervention, and psychology coursework. Each chapter contains useful checklists, procedural notes, tables, strategy worksheets, and forms, and the book includes special indices for quick reference in addition to a traditional index. Dr. Greenstone, a police mental health consultant and psychologist who served as Director of the Psychological Services Unit of the Fort Worth Police Department in Texas, uses a simple and direct format that emphasizes procedures, action and results, leaving theoretical discussions for another time and place. The book examines the negotiation process from start to finish, including preincident preparations, first response responsibilities, responding to the call-out, arriving at the scene, preparing to negotiate, making contact, preparing for the surrender, post-incident tasks, preparing equipment, and more. Topics covered in The Elements of Police Hostage and Crisis Negotiations include: legal considerations telephone surveillance guidelines the Stockholm Syndrome working with S.W.A.T. and Tactical Emergency Medical Support dealing with the media recognizing “red flags” the issues of suicide debriefing the hostage team the 150 laws of hostage and crisis negotiation and the 10 most serious errors a negotiator can make The Elements of Police Hostage and Crisis Negotiations: Critical Incidents and How to Respond to Them is a practical guide that’s equally effective in the field, in training, and in the office.

Training Strategies for Crisis and Hostage Negotiations was written for trainers who are tasked with providing role play: scenario-driven training that is challenging, novel, interesting, varied, and motivating. A trainer may play a larger role as leader, expert, teacher, coordinator, planner, facilitator, resource manager/librarian, observer/evaluator, talent agent/developer, and as a liaison with local, regional, and national groups. Role play remains the principal resource as the most effective way to train negotiatorsOCoboth novice and experiencedOCoand scenarios can be written in any number of ways, with role plays having endless possible variations that provide needed practice under controlled circumstances. Role play has been employed in numerous and diverse settings in the behavioral sciences, government, military, medicine, and business, affording needed practice under these controlled circumstances. The book observes training plans, goals and objectives, roles of trainers, scenario writing, subjects and realistic guidelines for role players, creative variations for role play practice, plus feedback and evaluation. The author adds knowledge about constructing scenarios that teach and challenge, making role plays more powerful and enlivening. Foundation material is included about the role of the trainer, the trainee, adult learning, and the important process of evaluation and the creative use of role play. In addition to the basic principles and mechanics of training strategies, skill-building exercises are presented, which can be used to serve unique settings and circumstances. The basics of active listening skills, negotiations stratagems, analysis of personality, and training techniques to properly master the basic skills for negotiators at all levels are among the many facets of this resource. The author presents a constant review and application of fundamentals in the negotiation world that has produced successful resolutions and competent, skilled negotiators. For the trainer, negotiator, supervisor, or academy instructor, this manual will be an invaluable training source."

Based on extensive analysis of real-time, authentic crisis encounters collected in the UK and US, Crisis Talk: Negotiating with Individuals in Crisis sheds light on the relatively hidden world of communication between people in crisis and the professionals whose job it is to help them. The crisis situations explored in this book involve police hostage and crisis negotiators and emergency dispatchers interacting with individuals in crisis who threaten suicide or self-harm. The practitioners face various communicative challenges in these encounters, including managing strong emotions, resistance, hostility, and unresponsiveness. Using conversation analysis, Crisis Talk presents evidence on how practitioners deal with the interactional challenge of negotiating with people in crisis and how what they say shapes outcomes. Each chapter includes recommendations based on the detailed analysis of numerous cases of actual negotiation. Crisis Talk shows readers how every turn taken by negotiators can exacerbate or solve the communicative challenges created by crisis situations, making it a unique and invaluable text for academics in psychology, sociology, linguistic sciences, and related fields, as well as for practitioners engaging in crisis negotiation training or fieldwork.

This updated and expanded new edition emphasizesthe need for law enforcement and emergency service workers to handle critical incidents in a positive manner when encountering people in public crises. The book's focus is on the approaches, stratagems, difficult circumstances, and the ability to effectively advance the course of the negotiations in the best interests of all concerned. Active listening is presented in an enhanced form with several important objectives and innovations: (1) in addition to basic techniques, advanced techniques are taught to increase the range and variety of negotiator response; (2) the material is geared more specifically to law enforcement and emergency service officers; (3) several means of skills practice are offered to help the trainee become more comfortable and more proficient; (4) explanations, examples, and applications that make the material sensible, practical, and comprehensive; and finally (5) advanced techniques, drawn from many fields, allow both novices and experienced negotiators to find challenge and skills enhancement. As author Slatkin advises: 'Do each exercise thoroughly. Work closely with others in and outside of formal training settings and value the feedback you get so that you can hone your skills. Get to the other side of your unfamiliarity, awkwardness, and insecurity through practice. Make effective communication and active listening not just what you do when you negotiate but something you do in all aspects of your work and home life.' Written exercises and a role-play (with training scenarios) are included to help negotiators acquire and practice the basic communication techniques that appear in the book. This text will be of interest to all police and corrections agencies, fire and rescue emergency personnel, medical service personnel, and chaplains.

Leading authorities on negotiations present the result of years of research, application, testing and experimentation, and practical experience. Principles and applications from numerous disciplines are combined to create a conceptual framework for the hostage negotiator. Ideas and concepts are explained so that the practicing negotiator can apply the principles outlined. McMains and Mullins are leading authorities on crisis negotiations. Learning objectives, discussion questions, and real-life negotiation situations expand on the text.

According to author Frederick J. Lanceley one of the world's foremost crisis negotiation authorities negotiators must train and train regularly. For just as the legal field constantly evolves, so does the field of crisis negotiation. The new edition of On-Scene Guide for Crisis Negotiators reflects this fact. A bestseller in its first edition, this