Crisis Intervention Section

On April 20, 1998, at 0335, negotiators were deployed to support an officer who was already talking with a subject barricaded in his truck, in a field, threatening to kill himself. Most of the issues seemed to revolve around marital and family matters.

At 04:28, the primary negotiator began to speak directly with the subject.

Below is a sampling of some of the responses that the negotiator made to the subject:

Ø Will you come out? If I give you my word? Will you come out of the truck?

Ø I want you to be there for them.

Ø Show Betty that you are sincere and want to make things better.

Ø We'll work through it together and we'll get Betty involved. It will be better for you and your children.

Ø Give me an opportunity to help you.

Ø I know a lot about you because I spoke with Betty. (Negotiator related what he knew)

Ø I'm here because we (corrected) I don't want to see you get hurt.

Ø Will you promise me you will come out? (After he asked to hear her voice on the police radio)

Ø I'm not here to tell you what you want to hear. I'm here to help you.

Ø I can't help you until I know that I am safe and that you are safe.

Ø I want to help you.

Ø Give her another oportunity.

Ø I'm trying to give you some options. We can work together to try to work this out.

Ø Once I know you are safe, we can begin working out everything else.

Ø I told you she cares about you. Give her the opportunity to show you.

Ø As long as you keep trying, there is always the possibility that things can work out.

Ø I want to see you work out things with Betty and things get better.

Ø Will you give me the opportunity to help you?

Ø I'm only here to help you. I'm concerned about you and want to be sure you are okay.

Ø I'll do everything I can to get you and Betty to work things out. Give me the opportunity.

Ø It's getting late, kids are tired, you're tired, I'm tired.

Ø If you're serious about making your marriage work that is what you need to do. (Come out)

Ø Are you willing to work with me on that? If I give you my word?

Ø I can't do that right now. They won't let me.

Ø The problem is that you can't make things work from inside that truck.

Ø You've had problems in the past and you've always managed to work them out.

Ø Will you come out for me?

Ø Let's start to work this out.

Ø I can't hear you, Steven.

Ø I want to help you, but I can only do it when I know you are safe.

Ø This is what I want you to do, throw out the gun and come out.

Ø I know you want to do the right thing and that's the right thing to do. (throw gun out and come out)

Ø I give you my word I will let you hear her voice if you come out.

Ø You're doing the right thing by wanting to talk to someone and work things out.

Steven came out of his truck, and surrendered without incident, at 0609.

Why did this work?

I think that we know that it did not work because:

a. All went perfectly;

b. The methods that were used were somehow scientific;

c. Of "magic;" or

d. Of super-human skills.

All may have worked out the way that it did due to luck. Experience tells me, however, that luck combined with the following actually allowed success to be achieved:

ü Perseverance

ü Procedures

ü Voice quality

ü Identifying with a human need

ü Reading the signs

ü Team involvement

ü Time, after starting to intervene

ü Increasing pressure

ü Calculating responses

ü Winning attitude

ü Going for a "win-win"

ü Intelligence utilization

ü Letting the victim know that his feelings were heard and understood

ü Noting his investment in other parts of his life e.g. Family, kitten, mission

ü Knowledge of his psychological status

ü Letting him know that he was not alone

ü Persistence in not leaving until the victim was safe

ü Care for the victim after he came out

ü Making promises that could be kept

ü Sowing seeds of doubt

ü Accepting his concessions

ü Taking his problems seriously

ü Taking our problems and personal needs seriously

ü Caring for each member of our team

ü Inner confidence that we could make it happen

ü Good leadership

ü Team-team cooperation

ü Determination

ü Wearing down the victim

And, maybe a little more luck.

Remember: Good luck is usually the result of careful planning.

James L. Greenstone, Ed.D., J.D., DABECI, is in private practice in Fort Worth, Texas. He is Chairman of the American Board of Examiners in Crisis Intervention, and a Licensed Master Peace Officer. Dr. Greenstone is Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Police Crisis Negotiations, and is Co-Chair of ACR’s Crisis Negotiation Section. He is the co-author of The Elements of Crisis Intervention, 2^nd Edition, and The Elements of Mediation. Both are published by Brooks/Cole Publishing Company. He is the author of The Elements of Police Hostage and Crisis Negotiations: Critical Incidents and How to Respond to Them, to be published and released in October, 2004 by The Haworth Press, Inc.

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