Negotiation Crisis Team The process of hostage and crisis negotiation is an event that involves a team, it is not something that can be performed by an individual and cannot be considered as a secondary activity. Such negotiations are meant to help in the management and/or resolution of very risky situations, and in most cases the situations are very tricky to deal with. The manner in which these situations present themselves often make it necessary to have specialized, explicit and compound knowledge backgrounds to be effectively handled. The effectiveness of such a process is very significant since the measure is through the loss of life avoided. The success or failure of such a team in the management and resolution of the situation is measured in terms of human lives saved or lost, this is why the team must be well composed. The knowledge and experience of each and every member of the negotiation team must be beyond reproach and should include specific training (Cooper, 1981). As much as the primary skills for every individual is vital, it is also significant that each team member undergoes a cross-training to perfectly fit and function in all team positions. This cross-training comes in handy in situations where the team members respond at different times at the location since the team functions will still be attained. This therefore means that all the team members cannot be outside consultants or add-ons, instead they should participate regularly and always be available, whether it is before, during or after the actual process.

Even though each hostage/crisis situation is unique, there are certain basic procedures proposed for handling such situations that have been widely agreed upon by various researchers (Call, 2003; Greenstone, 2005) These basic procedures have been arranged in a particular order as follows: Isolation and containment of the hostage taker and securing the perimeter to keep the hostage taker in and unauthorized persons out; provision for scene control; establishment of communication line with the hostage taker; employing socialized communication strategies; responding appropriately to demands and deadlines, putting safety of hostages as priority; preparing for the surrender and resolution of the crisis carefully; and utilizing operational and stress debriefing techniques on hostages, hostage takers, and crisis team members appropriately. (McMains, 2002; 2003)These procedures give a brief structure that should be used by both the tactical and negotiator team members when managing such situations.

The law enforcers are looked upon by the society to resolve crisis incidents in the best way possible while minimizing risks to all those involved. It therefore means that any negotiation team that is formed must be adequate enough to achieve effectiveness. There is no specific staffing level for a negotiation team since this majorly depends on the perceived or demonstrated need, however, there are three main categories of members of a negotiation team, these are; hostage negotiators, healthcare/mental health professionals, and tactical team members. Each of these team members have well defined roles within the team and must work closely with each other. In selecting individuals to form the negotiation team, there are general standards that are used varying from one region to another, however, there are certain skills/characteristics that have been found to be important to consider, these include; "high level of self-control, ability to remain calm under stress, excellent interpersonal communication skills, calm and confident demeanor, good listener and interviewer, and works well in a team concept" (Miller, 2005). In order to understand how a negotiation team achieves the goal for which it is formed, it is important to know what each member contributes to the team and how their roles complement.

Hostage negotiators

Whenever a law enforcement agency requires a hostage/crisis negotiator, individuals are selected and taken through special training, it should be noted that such law enforcement officers still do their regular duties. In most cases, it is the regular police officers who are taken through the special training in crisis negotiations thereby acquiring skills necessary for defusing potentially dangerous situations. Nevertheless, specialized law enforcement agencies like FBI have specialized hostage negotiators who are not involved in other duties. Whenever there is a hostage/crisis situation, the main thing that the negotiator will focus on is bringing the crisis to a non-violent ending. Depending on the situation, there may be two or more negotiators, regardless of the number settled on there will only be one primary negotiator at any given time. The primary negotiator will work together with a secondary negotiator, negotiators may work in shifts depending on...

We will first take a look at the role played by the primary negotiator (Evans et al., 1989).
In every situation that arises there shall be an on-scene commander, usually predetermined, to whom the primary negotiator will report to on arrival at the scene. The negotiator will then interrogate the person or persons who originated the call, it is through this process that he will be able to get the information that is necessary. The negotiator will always make sure that he gets all the available information regarding the situation before attempting to make contact with the hostage taker. Such information is important to the negotiator since it is through this that he will know what kind of situation he is facing and what to do and what not to. Whenever practicable, the initial contact with the perpetrator should only be done by the primary negotiator, it is from here that further negotiations will be developed. At the point of making contact and throughout the negotiation process, the primary negotiator has the responsibility of keeping the perpetrator at ease, keeping communications open, occasioning useful information, and achieving the safe surrender of the perpetrator with dignity. In order to meet these responsibilities, the primary negotiator should apply the certain principles. First of all he should be cognizant of both verbal and non-verbal language since communication is the pillar of negotiations. The negotiator should be an active listener and effectively integrate and comprehend what is being said, and correctly interpret any hidden meanings and messages (Evans et al., 1989). Since feedback forms an integral part of communication, the negotiator should always assure the perpetrator that he understands his message by passing back information received. The perpetrator also needs to feel that the negotiator has empathy as this will keep the communication on. Even though the negotiator listens to everything said by the perpetrator, the negotiator should be able to differentiate the intended message and the verbal words. The negotiator should also be able to understand and manipulate emotions for the benefit of the negotiation (Fisher et al., 1991). Lastly, it is important to have checkpoints in form of summarized issues that have been discussed as well as demands.

Other than participating in the incident, the primary negotiator has the responsibility of preparing a follow-up report with regard to the incident. It is in this report that the negotiator will include information that he deems necessary for the follow up of the perpetrator. It is in this report that comments on the overall performance of the negotiation process, including what worked and what did not work. As mentioned earlier, the primary negotiator works together with the secondary negotiator whose main responsibility is to monitor the negotiations with the sole purpose of giving the primary negotiator feedback on such things as; use of skills, inflection, tempo, trigger words, interpretation of messages given by the perpetrator, and any other information that may be relevant to the situation. Overall, the responsibility of the secondary and primary negotiator is the same, the only difference is that the secondary negotiator does not directly participate in the conversation, unless for specific reasons he is introduced by the primary negotiator. The secondary negotiator also acts the personal assistant to the primary negotiator and helps in restricting access to the primary negotiator by receiving any information on his behalf and also disseminating any information from him. This is important because the primary negotiator needs to concentrate on the actual negotiation without any distraction. It is also important that the primary negotiator is monitored by the secondary negotiator for signs of stress and should also receive moral support from him.

The specific roles of the negotiator can thus be summarized as follows: First of all the negotiator has the role of listening to the perpetrator and having the perpetrator know that there is someone listening. Then the negotiator has to empathize with the perpetrator and for the perpetrator to feel this empathy, the negotiator must then create a rapport with him. Once the perpetrator has started trusting the negotiator, it is time to start influencing the course of action to be taken. The last and very important role of the negotiator is to achieve behavioral change from the perpetrator through change of action, such as surrendering (Evans et al., 1989).

Healthcare/Mental health professionals

Negotiation strategies that have been developed over time have been greatly influenced by the ever changing nature of hostage/crisis situations since each situation is unique. In each and every incident, the subject has specific motives…