Hostage Negotiation Whenever a Hostage

Hostage Negotiation

Whenever a hostage situation arises, it requires special handling because if it is not handled properly then the consequences could be disastrous and catastrophic. "A hostage situation is a law-enforcement worst-case scenario, because it places innocent civilians directly in harm's way. Armed intervention becomes very risky, since the hostages themselves can be harmed either by stray bullets or by the hostage-takers" (Grabianowski, n.d). The role of experienced crisis management professionals or teams becomes more important in such situations. Proper training, experience, vigilance, and timely decision making are some of the aspects that help in negotiations. "Managing a hostage situation, and particularly negotiating, is best left to experts. Virtually all police and sheriff's departments have specially trained units available to manage these types of situations" (Smith, 1993). Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has been actively involved in the training of negotiators since 1978. Over the years, FBI has become renowned for resolving complex situations using negotiations techniques and in this regard the training imparted by FBI has been very popular and a source of inspiration for others.

Many hostage situations in the past have ended in a violent situation causing loss of life. Rescuing hostage alive has never been considered an easy job. Many failures to successfully bail the hostage out of criminals' hands have given way to a hostage negotiation program. The program was started in the New York City. From then on, negation has been used in crisis situations and hostages have been freed alive in many instances using the techniques of negotiation developed by New York Police department. The negotiation techniques have evolved over a period of time and are considered an integral part of the crisis management. These days some organizations permanently have people for this purpose only. Since negotiations are time consuming, they also help tactical team to plan the tactical operation properly if in any case action is required to be taken. With the help of ongoing discussion and negotiation, tactical teams are able to gather information about the criminals and their place. Another important aspect of negotiations is that the hostages' apprehension; anxieties, distress and fears are allayed because criminals generally allow some dialogues with the hostages as well. Besides, the fact that both sides are in the process of a discussion helps hostages to calm down as they also see hope and light at the end of the tunnel that the situation will not become violent in the end.

Different Situations

Negotiation technique depends upon the circumstances. For example in case of kidnapping the situation can be assessed in four different ways depending upon the kidnappers. "Kidnappers fall into four different categories: the opportunist or novice criminal; the religiously or politically motivated individual; the mentally deranged individual; and the professional criminal" (Zandt, 1993). The situation can also be defined as planned or unplanned. Planned situation occurs in case of political and professional criminals while unplanned situation may arise in case of opportunist or mentally disable person. In case of planned situations criminals have people capable of carrying out proper negotiation. Planned situations are very hard to deal with because it mostly involves trained people and who are working for a cause that could be money or political or religious motivation. Negotiations have helped a lot in situations where novices have been involved.

The situations discussed above are from the criminals' perspective. The number of hostages or the ratio of hostage to criminals can also categorize the situations. Based on the situation the past research analysis can be considered. There have been success in past because of the use of certain techniques in particular situations. These situations have been documented and analyzed by negotiating trainers, professional and mangers so that certain successful techniques can be applied in peculiar situations.

Also the overall hostage situation can be divided into three phases. The initial part or phase is usually the violent one with hostage showing his authority, aggressive and violent behavior to be in control of the situation and hostages. Next comes, the demand from the hostages and the process of negotiation starts. Last phase is the outcome in which hostage takers are arrested or injured/killed or they are allowed to escape with the release of hostages. The negotiation phase becomes more important from the crisis management point-of-view.

Considerations in Negotiation

There are many considerations that should be taken in view in this process but only a few are being discussed here:

Team Building

Team building is one of the basic requirements in crisis situations where negotiations are required. Different law enforcement agencies are usually the part of such an operation. Therefore a negotiating team may comprise negotiating experts, local police authorities, secret service agents etc. The earliest a productive and cohesive team is formed the better it is for the process of negotiation to start. Since, the process of negotiation is round the clock operation and emergency-situation; teams work in shifts so that one team can rest while other performs its duties and there is no disruption. Here the role of team co-coordinators also comes into play so that there is no miscommunication and mismanagement on part of negotiators.

Well Being of Hostage major concern for which the whole operation is undertaken is obviously the well being of the hostages. The care that negotiators must take is that not to communicate it to the hostage takers. For example if a hostage has a medical problem and if it is communicated to them then they will realize the importance of that particular person and they might hold that person till the end considering the care that negotiators showed for him. Similarly, the concern for female detainees is high because of obvious reasons but to communicate it vocally could be disastrous for the negotiators. Allow the negotiators to mention the well-being of hostages first and then extend the conversation from there on. Negotiators must also look for the ways of releasing at least some of the hostages which will not only weaken the position of criminals but the team at work for the crisis management will be able to get first-hand knowledge of the hostage takers.

Movement of Objects

Negotiations can turn into early confrontation if the movements of any objects such as arms and ammunitions or other communication devices etc. are brought in sight of negotiators or near the area where the hostage has been taken. Any movements of any kind of object may create doubts in the minds of criminals regarding the sincerity of the whole negotiation process and the whole situation can turn violent at the slightest provocation. Remaining calm and maintaining peace will help in the situation because hostage takers are generally more volatile due to the severity of situation and can react more violently. Just like strange objects pose threat, angry and aggressive people may also affect the situation badly.

Prolonging the Situation

The communication and psychological expertise of negotiators is required here. As explained earlier the longer the situation lasts the better it is for overall planning and management of the crises. Negotiators can ask open-ended questions and look for ways in which the time for further negotiations can be extended. The more interaction negotiators have with hostage takers the more understanding of their behavior they will have. This knowledge of their psyche and weak points will help them extend the whole process of negotiations.