The Use of Crisis Intervention Principles by Police Negotiators

Abstract

ABSTRACT Hostage Negotiations has been a highly successful approach to high conflict incidents in policing. Negotiators have expanded their usefulness far beyond the 18% of incidents they manage that involve hostages. They are used by the majority of departments in a variety of crisis situations. Therefore, the skills they use are crisis intervention skills. This paper presents a definition of crisis, shows how this definition fits the majority of incidents on which negotiators are called to manage and show how crisis intervention principles help organize negotiator's strategies and tactics. It focuses specifically on the stages, goals, and skills that are common to most crisis incidents.