NCJ Number
87731
Journal
Police Magazine Volume: 6 Issue: 1 Dated: (January 1983) Pages: 10-15,17-20,22-28
Date Published
1983
Length
17 pages
Annotation
Most police departments have created hostage negotiation units whose techniques have yielded almost no loss of life in hostagetaking incidents.
Abstract
Police agencies have learned from bitter experience that lengthy, sometimes exhausting negotiations are more fruitful in saving lives than rushing to the use of force, which has almost always led to loss of life. It is generally agreed that a police officer should serve as the chief negotiator rather than a psychologist or psychiatrist. The experience of police officers better equips them to handle potentially violent situations, and hostagetakers look to the police as determining whether or not force is used against them. Further, the negotiator should not also be a policymaker or decisionmaker in the situation, so as to be free of excessive distractions and pressures. As a general rule, the negotiator should be truthful with the hostagetaker, since patterns of deception in hostage incidents will be publicized and tend to render promises meaningless in subsequent negotiations. There should be no exchange of hostages or weapons, and the killing of a hostage by the hostagetaker should not in itself prompt the use of force, depending upon the meaning of the killing. The longer the negotiation continues the more likely it will end successfully, as the will of the hostagetaker is worn down. Those selected to be trained for negotiation teams should exhibit skills in communication and the capacity to empathize with others without being judgmental. Overall, these characteristics enable the negotiator to elicit trust.