Thursday, May 29, 2014

Quick Tip: Hostage Negotiator's Tone of Voice

Crisis and hostage negotiator's are involved in situations that are tense, stressful, and anxiety-filled.  In order to try to reduce the overwhelming emotions being experienced by the person they are trying to help, the negotiator's tone of voice is an important tool that can help move the conversation toward a peaceful resolution.




According to Strentz (2012, p.81), after interviewing numerous hostage takers, a theme that emerged was that frequently the hostage takers could not recall the specific things the negotiator said to them that contributed to them turning him or herself in. What they did remember however was the tone of voice of the negotiator- it was one of concern for them as a victim and in need of help.

Thursday, May 22, 2014

Top 10 FBI Behavioral Unit Techniques for Building Rapport With Anyone

Robin Dreeke
(From Time.com) Robin Dreeke is head of the FBI’s Counterintelligence Behavioral Analysis Program.
In his book It’s Not All About “Me”: The Top Ten Techniques for Building Quick ... he simply and clearly spells out methods for connecting with people.

1) Establish artificial time constraints

Nobody wants to feel trapped in an awkward conversation with a stranger...
Yes, I am sure you want to read more just click [HERE] and read the rest from Time.com 
You can also read more on rapport building from a few of my articles:

CPR: Charisma, Professionalism & Rapport

5 Tips On Measuring Crisis & Hostage Negotiation Progress

Tips On Building Rapport

Friday, May 16, 2014

Cops Add Texting To Crisis Negotiation Arsenal

Police negotiator Andres Wells was doing all he could to keep a suspect from killing himself after a robbery and chase. But the man kept cutting phone calls short and pointing his handgun to his head.
About 10 minutes after the last hangup, Wells' cellphone chimed. It was a text from the suspect.
"Please call Amie," the message said, followed by the number of the man's girlfriend.
Wells was surprised. In three years as a negotiator with the Kalamazoo, Michigan, police, he'd always relied on taking cues from a person's tone of voice, the emotions. He'd never thought about negotiating via text.
Read more from the AP/PoliceOne.com [HERE]. 

Thursday, May 15, 2014

NYPD ESU Officers Negotiate With A Suicidal Man Atop The Manhattan Bridge

Photo: Gregory P. Mango


(NYPost.com) A man dressed only in bright red cargo shorts and work boots attempted to scale the Manhattan Bridge Wednesday in an effort to commit suicide after getting into a fight with his father, authorities said.
...Five members of the NYPD’s Emergency Services Unit soon arrived and climbed the span to meet the man.
...“I told him, ‘those things really don’t matter,’” the cop recalled saying

Read the full article [HERE].

Wednesday, May 14, 2014

In This Corner: Negotiating With Cults

By Lynne Kinnucan

NEGOTIATING WITH CULTS

When what works ….. doesn’t


The conflagration that ended the siege between law enforcement agencies and the Branch Davidian sect in Waco ignited a sudden firestorm of debate throughout the nation. Too big to be fully comprehended and its discrete elements too many to be fully explored, the tragedy remains where it stood more than 20 years ago – a standoff finished, but never resolved.

Experts acknowledged that it was easy to second-guess the failed strategies, BUT they could not provide others that might have worked. Yet In the hundreds of analyses written since then, a core problem emerged: “Given the techniques and strategies traditionally used at the time –the Behavioral Staircase, searching for common ground, reframing, etc. - could there have been any other outcome? Is negotiating with violent sects a world unto itself?’ This began to further refine itself as “How do you find common ground in negotiating a moral conflict with a religious cult?”

Thursday, May 8, 2014

From Reading the Body Language of Animals To Crisis Negotiator

DOVER — Heather Cote of the Strafford County Sheriff’s Office may be only 5-feet, 4-inches tall, but that doesn’t stop her from detaining men twice her size.

The pint-sized civil deputy grew up with horses and is used to reading the body language of large animals


Read more from Fosters.com [HERE].

Wednesday, May 7, 2014

U.S. to Send Team to Nigeria to Help Find Kidnapped Girls

The U.S. is preparing to deploy a team of military, law enforcement and hostage negotiators to Nigeria, officials said Tuesday, to help with the ongoing effort to recovermore than 250 kidnapped schoolgirls whose plight has captured global attention.

More from Time.com [HERE]. 

Sunday, May 4, 2014

Talking life or death: Crisis negotiator explains process



Lt. Joe King is the only trained crisis negotiator with the Punta Gorda Police Department. He was called out to convince that man, who was holding a…
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I found this quote worth sharing too:
"It's important to gather intelligence about the person -- as much as you can get," King said.  "Background, family, military -- anything you can find to make a connection. 
- See more at at WinkNews [HERE].

Thursday, May 1, 2014

Book Review: Hostage & Crisis Negotiations


(From The Black Swan Group)- As a negotiations practitioner for over 17 years, I fashion myself a “student of the game”, meaning I maintain an insatiable appetite of all things related to negotiations. I try to learn as much as I can from others’ experiences and research so as I can continue to improve. Therefore, it stands to reason that I waited with great anticipation for the arrival of Thomas Strentz’s latest book, Hostage/Crisis Negotiations; Lessons Learned from the Bad, the Mad and the Sad, (Springfield, Illinois: Grand Rapids: Charles C. Thomas, 2013. 181 pages), hereafter referred to as the BMS.
...Strentz wrote BMS because he, like me, is a firm believer in case studies. We both are incredulous at the lack of knowledge many negotiators have regarding significant cases in the history of our discipline. Strentz recognizes that all of us, regardless of our level of experience or skill (the New, the Old and the Mediocre) learn from studying the success and failures of others. Whether the incident occurred last week or forty years ago, there are always lessons to be learned from case studies.
Read the full review from The Black Swan Group [HERE].