1- Public safety.
2- Bring calm to any escalating confrontation.
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DENVER - Police standoffs are unpredictable and intense. An armed suspect can put police and innocent people in danger.
Local law enforcement was faced with three of them recently, one involving a 13-year-old victim lasting 18 hours.
Police at the center of the altercations must be patient and persistent, in nearly all cases crisis negotiators work in volatile circumstances.
"Individuals think they're backed into a corner and there's no other alternative," Denver FBI agent Dave Joly said.
Joly says there are two objectives a negotiator has going in a standoff situation. One of those objectives is public safety. The other objective is to bring calm to any escalating confrontation.