Former FBI Lead Negotiator Chris Voss named Senior Fellow at George Washington University Center for Cyber & Homeland Security

LOS ANGELES, April 6, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- The George Washington University Center for Cyber & Homeland Security (CCHS) announced yesterday that Former FBI International Lead Hostage Negotiator Chris Voss has been named a Senior Fellow as part of their Counterterrorism and Intelligence Task Force. Chris worked for the FBI for 24 years, and now runs The Black Swan Group, a strategic business advisory firm that solves business negotiation problems with hostage negotiation strategies. 

The Senior Fellows were selected earlier this month following an open, competitive process and will serve in the position for a two-year term starting on April 1, 2015. As a distinguished group of policy experts and practitioners in the areas of cybersecurity, counterterrorism, and homeland security, drawn from the private sector, government, academia, and the non-profit sector, Chris Voss is honored to join CCHS's non-resident senior fellows.

"I am honored to become a Senior Fellow with the CCHS as they remain on the cutting-edge of counter terrorism thinking and leadership."

Chris brings extensive knowledge from the real world of hostage negotiation and applies them, successfully, to the business and academic worlds. Voss is a Harvard graduate, USC Marshall School of Business Adjunct Professor, Georgetown UniversityMcDonough School of Business Professor, Speaker, and Author.

As a recognized international negotiations expert, Chris is frequently interviewed by major media on headline news such as the recent Germanwings crash, Ferguson riots, Boston Bombings, Somali Pirates and hostage negotiations in Iraq, Afghanistan, Nigeria, Panama, Colombia, Gaza, and Haiti.

About
Former FBI Lead Negotiator Chris Voss specializes hostage and business negotiations. Based in Los Angeles, Voss now runs The Black Swan Group, is working on a book (working title, "Killer Deals", April 2016), and teaches business leaders how to get better negotiation results with rave reviews and results. Chris' extensive media resume commenting on hostage negotiation stories includes repeat appearances on CNN, Fox News, Larry King Live, Discovery Channel, ABC News, Washington Business Tonight, Anderson Cooper, and Crime Time. http://www.blackswanltd.com/about-black-swan/

Hostage Negotiator Trains Patrol Officers To Dial It Back

After a tour abroad teaching cops how to ease tense stand-offs, a respected former top city cop has returned to offer New Haven officers the same de-escalation training—a first-in-the-state effort launched amid police-citizen controversies nationwide.

...The police department tapped one of its own, former Lt. Ray Hassett, to teach the course. Hassett retired from the department in 2012, after 25 years as an officer. Hassett served as district manager for the Dwight neighborhood as well as the department’s SWAT chief.

Read more from the NewHavenIndependent.org [HERE]. 

2015 21st Annual Calgary Police Service Crisis Negotiation Conference

We are pleased to announce that our 2015 Calgary Negotiation Seminar will be available for early registration on Wednesday April 15, 2015 at:

www.calgarynegotiationseminar.com. 

This 21st Annual Calgary Negotiation Seminar is located in Calgary, Alberta Canada and will present several case studies as well as learning blocks. Details will be available on the website as presenters are confirmed. I have attached this year’s poster to this email for more details.

Mark your calendars for September 22 – 24, 2015 and ensure that you register early as spots are limited.

Former FBI hostage negotiation trainer explains how to get people to do what you want

Mark Goulston, a former FBI hostage negotiation
trainer, role playing.

Mark Goulston spent two years role-playing for a living.

He’d pretend to be a suicidal policeman, holding a gun to his neck, threatening to take his own life.

His job was to challenge his audience — a room full of FBI agents and police officers — to talk him out of it.

“In the end, I always pulled the trigger and then from the point of view of that role play, I would tell them what they could have asked and could have said that would have caused me to give up and surrender,” explains Goulston, a psychiatrist and former FBI hostage negotiation trainer.

Read more from BusinessInsider.com.au [HERE]. 

Special Crisis Hostage Negotiation Webinar With Thomas Strentz

 The Association for Conflict Resolution’s Second Annual Crisis Negotiation Month

Hostage/Crisis Negotiations

Lessons Learned from the Bad, the Mad and the Sad

Tuesday, April 14th

6-7pm est. (5-6pm central, 3-4pm pst.) 

***FREE But Spots Are Limited***

Sign up [HERE]

In this Webinar, Dr.Thomas Strentz, psychologist and author with many years of experience with the FBI and as a counterterrorism consultant, will offer case histories on how to quickly identify the three main types of personality disorders with whom negotiators are likely to come into contact; understand their perceptions them and of reality; recognize their primary defense mechanisms, and how to negotiate with them.

Sponsored by the Association for Conflict Resolution and ADRhub.com, this informative and entertaining webinar is designed for crisis and hostage negotiators, but all conflict resolution practitioners including mediators, conflict coaches, students, and ombuds will find the skills applicable to the work they do.

About the Presenter:

A former FBI negotiator who designed, directed and developed the FBI negotiations program from 1975-1987, Dr. Strentz  has also committed his expertise to  the  resolution of numerous terrorist situations world-wide.

 He  has provided consultation and training in unconventional, security, and counter terrorism  operations to various US military, US federal, state and local law  enforcement and friendly foreign military/LE special operations units. He utilizes his expertise for organizations and individuals who work and travel in high-risk areas, such as domestic and international air lines, law enforcement, government agencies and the military.

While with the FBI, he also helped create the FBI Hostage Rescue Team selection program and was a pioneer in psychological profiling of criminal and terrorist offenders. He developed
 and refined aircraft hijacker and terrorist profiles currently used internationally.

Dr. Strentz is the author of two books,  The Psychological Aspects of Crisis Negotiation and

Hostage/Crisis Negotiations: Lessons Learned from the Bad, the Mad and the Sad.

In This Corner: First Responders

IN THIS CORNER: FIRST RESPONDERS

By Lynne Kinnucan

What do you do when you’re the first officer to arrive at the scene of a crisis? The first few minutes after an officer’s arrival at the scene can have a critical impact on how the situation evolves. 

While there is no step-by-step process that fits every situation, there are three objectives that should be primary during your first moments: stay safe, calm the subject and assess the situation. Below are five guidelines suggested by experts for first responders.

1.     Stay safe.  Approach the scene cautiously.

2.     As much as possible, isolate the scene and contain it.  Clear the area of members of the public, including family members. Do not ask family members to talk to the subject.  This is precarious at best, and can be dangerous.

3.     Make an assessment of the area and note any details that might be helpful to the arriving negotiation/tactical team such as the time, date, the parties at the scene, nature of the call, and any other pertinent information.

4.     Do not start negotiating. Listen for indications of the subject’s emotional state, but do not try to problem-solve or explore motives. It is not your job to fix the situation. You are there to contain, isolate, gather information and assess.

5.     If you can engage the subject in conversation, he is less likely to pay attention to violent acts.

a.     Use active listening to gain information and calm the subject.

b.     Keep the dialogue simple and direct. Identify yourself and why you are here. “This is Sergeant Greenstein and I’m here to help.”

c.     Do not say “no”.

d.     Do not make promises.

e.     Pay attention to not just what is being said but how: pace of speech, increasing loudness or softening of tone, phrases and words that indicate resistance or openness to discussion, etc. Use active listening skills such as encouragers (mm hmmm, I see, sounds you’re pretty upset, etc.)

Statistics show that on average, more than 90% of all hostage and barricade situations are successfully resolved through communications. The best tool you have is active listening and open communication, and the information you garner in these first few minutes can provide invaluable over the course of the crisis negotiation.

Not every agency has the resources to train a first responder, but ongoing training in active listening skills is one of your best preparations for this critically important role. 

Sources:

Department of Justice

FBI Compendium
Policeone.com
Mindsetdaily.com

New NYPD Training For Patrol Utilizes HNT Skills

...Day Two’s program — called “Smart Policing” — was developed by the NYPD and focuses on communication. For example, the department asked Lt. Jack Cambria, the renowned head of the Hostage Negotiation Unit, to provide his insights to the entire force, and not just to HNU members.

Cambria, an expert on dealing with troubled people, provides a primer on how to deal with suspects by developing rapport with them and on ways to stay calm and avoid the need to resort to aggressive tactics.

Read More from dnainfo.com [HERE].

Related: “Talk To Me”: What It Takes To Be An NYPD Hostage Negotiator

Ten Tips for Negotiating in 2015

By Ed Brood (via The Negotiator Magazine)

The ability to negotiate successfully in today's turbulent business climate can make the difference between success and failure. With this in mind, Ed has reevaluated his list of top ten negotiation tips. Here are Ed Brodow's Ten Tips for Successful Negotiating updated for the year 2015:

1. Don't be afraid to ask for what you want. Successful negotiators are assertive and challenge everything - they know that everything is negotiable. I call this negotiation consciousness. Negotiation consciousness is what makes the difference between negotiators and everybody else on the planet.

How To Be Someone People Love To Talk To

 

This is from Eric Barker's wonderful blog.  Basically everything he writes is worth reading and I highly recommend signing up for his newsletter. From his most recent weekly email:

When do we really learn good conversation skills? Well, we don't. We're just kind of expected to pick them up...

And we wonder why people aren't better communicators. How can you be that person people love to talk to?

I've posted a lot of research and expert interviews on the subject so let's round up the info and make it actionable.

In this post you'll learn:

• How to make a good first impression.
• How to be a great listener.
• What the best subjects to discuss are.
• How to prevent awkward silences.
• How to politely end a conversation.

And a lot more. C'mon, let's chat.

How To Make A Good First Impression

First impressions really are a big deal and talking to new people can be daunting, no doubt. What's the answer?

...And when they open up, don’t judge. Nobody — including you — likes to feel judged.

FBI behavior expert Robin Dreeke’s #1 piece of advice: “Seek someone else’s thoughts and opinions without judging them.” Here’s Robin:

The number one strategy I constantly keep in the forefront of my mind with everyone I talk to is non-judgmental validation. Seek someone else’s thoughts and opinions without judging them. People do not want to be judged in any thought or opinion that they have or in any action that they take. It doesn’t mean you agree with someone. Validation is taking the time to understand what their needs, wants, dreams and aspirations are.

Suspend your ego. Avoid correcting people or saying anything that could be interpreted as one-upmanship.

Read the full post and visit the site [HERE].

How ‘Active Listening’ Makes Both Participants in a Conversation Feel Better

It might be "easy" being a negotiator but how are you when it comes to your own life?

By

ELIZABETH BERNSTEIN

Updated Jan. 12, 2015 11:11 p.m. ET

62 COMMENTS

When Traci Ruble and her husband, Clemens Gantert, climbed into bed one night recently, he began telling her about his day at his software startup. He explained that changes in a state law would affect his business. And he told her about a technical problem he was having with a security certificate for the software.

After several minutes, Ms. Ruble turned to look at him. Then she burst out laughing, picked up the remote and turned on the TV. “Whatever you are saying is like speaking Greek to me,” said Ms. Ruble, who is a marriage and family therapist.

“I can’t believe you get paid to listen for a living,” Mr. Gantert replied, calling her on her behavior.

Why is it so hard to listen to our loved ones?…

...“Good listeners overcome their natural inclination to fix the other’s problems and to keep the conversation brief,” says Graham D. Bodie, an associate professor of communication studies at Louisiana State University, who studies listening.

Read the full article at WSJ.com [here].

Sunday Sit-down: Christopher J. Murphy

Christopher J. Murphy has been a Worcester police officer for nearly 21 of his 45 years. He spent 13 years investigating homicides and other major crimes as a detective before being promoted to sergeant in December 2013 and reassigned to the Operations Division. For the last ten years, Sgt. Murphy has also been a member of the department's hostage negotiating team, a specialized unit that is pressed into service about half a dozen times each year. 

The 11-member unit made headlines and earned Police Chief Gary J. Gemme's praise Jan. 10 when its efforts led to the peaceful resolution of what authorities said was a hostage-taking on Holly Terrace. An armed man believed to have been under the influence of crack cocaine allegedly held his 6-year-old son captive in the family's home that morning. He had earlier fired two shots into the floor, according to police. 

Sgt. Murphy and his colleagues managed to talk the suspect out of the house without any harm befalling the boy or his father. 

Explain, in general terms, what a hostage negotiator does. The job title suggests you try to negotiate the safe release of hostages and the peaceful surrender of their captors. Is that always the case or do you deal with other types of situations, as well, that may not involve hostages? 

"A hostage negotiator is one who is trained to speak to individuals who are in crisis, are barricaded, or are in need of assistance. It doesn't always involve a hostage. I think the majority of the time, it involves a person who is barricaded, and by barricaded, we mean behind a locked door. They are in some level of distress. It could be as simple as a police officer knocking on the door to make an arrest or investigate a crime and the person refuses to come out. But, you also have the people who are suicidal or in distress and often times, that comes over as a check-on-the-welfare call. It's our job to make sure they're safely brought to UMass mental health or to find some other kind of peaceful solution to their problem." 

Take us through a typical response, step-by-step... 

Read the full article from Telegram.com [HERE].

New Book From Great Negotiator William Ury

I am sure many of you have read Getting To Yes, Getting Past No, and Beyond Reason from the brilliant people who started the Program on Negotiation at Harvard, so I thought you would be interested in knowing about Ury's newest book.  The previous books are all must reads for negotiators so I am sure this one will be too.

(From Amazon.com) William Ury, coauthor of the international bestseller Getting to Yes, returns with another groundbreaking book, this time asking: how can we expect to get to yes with others if we haven’t first gotten to yes with ourselves?

Renowned negotiation expert William Ury has taught tens of thousands of people from all walks of life—managers, lawyers, factory workers, coal miners, schoolteachers, diplomats, and government officials—how to become better negotiators. Over the years, Ury has discovered that the greatest obstacle to successful agreements and satisfying relationships is not the other side, as difficult as they can be. The biggest obstacle is actually our own selves—our natural tendency to react in ways that do not serve our true interests.

But this obstacle can also become our biggest opportunity, Ury argues. If we learn to understand and influence ourselves first, we lay the groundwork for understanding and influencing others. In this prequel to Getting to Yes, Ury offers a seven-step method to help you reach agreement with yourself first, dramatically improving your ability to negotiate with others.

Practical and effective, Getting to Yes with Yourself helps readers reach good agreements with others, develop healthy relationships, make their businesses more productive, and live far more satisfying lives.

Read more and purchase the book from Amazon.com [HERE].

Police Lacked Tactical Van During Sydney Siege

A basic premise to a law enforcement crisis hostage negotiator being effective is reducing distractions.  This is not just with respect to the direct communication between the negotiator and hostage taker but it also involves, and what can come across as common sense, distractions that can interrupt the negotiator.

Although it can be perceived as common sense to have a NOC (Negotiation Operations Center) that is free of outside distractions, in reality that is not always the case due to a variety of reasons.  This includes funding and sometimes planning. 

Have a look at the headline and snippet below to read how the lack of a mobile NOC played a role in the recent incident in Sydney.  Also read more about how the environment is an important nonverbal communication element to crisis negotiations [here]. 

NSW Labor promises counter-terrorism funding after it emerges police lacked tactical van during Martin Place siege

Read more [HERE].

Negotiating with War Veterans

BY:  Samuel A. Farina, Jr. 

Sam Farina is the President of the
New York Association for
Hostage Negotiators (NYAHN)

On December 22, 2013, FoxNews reported a story of a standoff lasting more than 24 hours between police in northern Kentucky and a military veteran suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder who barricaded himself and his three children inside his home. During the course of the negotiation, the veteran had his three children in his residence but released them without injury.

Such headlines are rather common across the United States, given the increasing number of military veterans returning from the Iraq and Afghanistan theaters. In terms of statistics, over 1.8 million veterans have served overseas over the past 12 years and it is estimated that over 300,000 returned with diagnosed and undiagnosed Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. In addition, there have been over 300,000 contract civilian employees who have served in combat zones that have been impacted equally in Iraq and Afghanistan. Their adjustment back into society has been challenged and alerted by the effects of war, exposure to death and devastating injuries, the constant threat of one’s mortality, a constant state of hypervigilance, and the need for dehumanizing others as a survival mechanism.

So the question that is often asked of police negotiation teams is:

“Are we ready to properly deal with a veteran in crisis in a barricade or hostage taking situation?”