Incidents involving barricaded subjects, hostage takers, or persons threatening suicide represent especially trying and stressful moments for law enforcement personnel who respond to them. Officers first responding to the scene must quickly assess the totality of the situation, secure the area, gauge the threat to hostages or bystanders, and request additional units as appropriate. Crisis negotiators must establish contact with subjects, identify their demands, and work to resolve tense and often volatile standoffs without loss of life.
Field commanders assume ultimate responsibility for every aspect of the police response.
For such a coordinated response to be successful, each component needs to understand clearly the functions of the others. This article clarifies the role of crisis negotiators for field commanders, of whatever rank, who find themselves in command of hostage or other critical incidents. Supervisors who understand the purpose behind the actions taken by negotiators will avoid delays at the scene that occur when negotiators must stop and explain or justify their intended courses of action. Such understanding has taken on particular importance in recent years. Negotiators have become very active, due in part to the reputations they have established for the successful, peaceful resolution of various types of critical incidents.