What’s Crisis Negotiation?

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Crisis negotiation is a law enforcement specialty that focuses on safely defusing dangerous and life-threatening situations. The goal of most crisis negotiation teams is to successfully navigate a situation without harm to anyone involved. Large national law enforcement agencies often have crisis negotiation specialists, as do regional police agencies and urban police forces. When a crisis situation arises in a rural area that does not have its own team, a team can travel from another region to provide assistance.

Crisis negotiation team members often begin training as law enforcement officers. After several years on the job, they can apply for crisis negotiation training and will be sent to a special academy to learn how to negotiate in crisis situations. The training includes discussions on a wide variety of topics, ranging from the psychology of such situations to the protocol used by teams entering crisis situations if negotiators believe the situation cannot be defused safely.

People who work in this field often work in teams, forming close bonds with team members. They can respond immediately when a situation is reported, or they can be called in a situation where law enforcement realizes crisis negotiation is needed. Once they arrive, crisis negotiators usually take charge of the scene, working in an isolated area to reduce stress and making sure they decide what actions should be taken and when so they can control the situation.

Hostage-taking situations are perhaps the most famous types of situations handled by crisis negotiation teams. However, such teams also manage people who threaten suicide and individuals who have barricaded themselves, with or without other people. Crisis negotiators work with everyone from terrorists holding plane occupants hostage to distraught teenagers who want to commit suicide.

Working in emergency situations requires a unique approach to each situation and the ability to assess situations quickly. Crisis negotiators know how to respond quickly to emerging threats and changes in the scene and have a variety of tactics they can use to negotiate with people. Each academy trains its crisis negotiators slightly differently, depending on the policy of the agency that runs the academy.

Crisis negotiators must be able to negotiate in good faith. They don’t make promises they can’t keep, and they are careful to remain attentive to the needs of the people they work with. This is one reason why they prefer to be isolated from bystanders, family members, and other law enforcement officers so they can focus on the situation at hand.

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