Hostage negotiations: strategies and communication techniques

Crises Negotiations

The field of hostage negotiating did not develop on the front lines of police work, but, instead, in the broader political context, dealing specifically with the taking of hostages. In modern times, these events have been large-scale terrorist events, such as when terrorist took athletes hostage at the 1972 Munich Olympics. This helped hone the field of hostage negotiations, because of a belief that appropriate intervention and negotiation could yield results that save lives in the event of hostage scenarios. Of course, hostage taking, and, therefore, hostage negotiation is not a new phenomenon; people have been taking hostages for years. In fact, when one looks at how piracy worked, it becomes clear that in many instances pirates were taking and holding hostages in an effort to get ransom for them. Any kidnap-for-ransom scenario is a hostage scenario. This was so commonplace that different ranks of crewman had different set ransoms in the late 1700s and early 1800s (McMains & Mullins, 2014). Moreover, it was such an established part of the sea-trade that it became commonplace to pay the equivalent of protection money to prevent such attacks. Hostages have also been a traditional part of warfare, with negotiations for hostages often being predicated on the release of prisoners held by another side. The Munich Olympic event mirrored those old-fashioned hostage scenarios, except for the fact that the hostages were composed of third-party non-combatants. It is important to keep in mind that hostages were not only the people who were taken; property was also taken hostage, so that the threat of destruction was always something to be considered in hostage negotiations.

Geopolitical hostage events are different from the hostage and crises events that police departments often encounter. One of the biggest differences may be the state of mind of the hostage takers. For geopolitical events, or even for piracy, the motives are often rational, even if the actors may not be engaging in rational behavior because of heightened emotions. In contrast, when dealing with domestic crises scenarios, negotiators are often called upon to deal with people that have emotional problems or issues and that may require specific knowledge of potential pathologies.

Domestic disputes probably give rise to the most crises situations in the law enforcement context. It is not unusual for a spouse to hold another spouse hostage, particularly when there is a history of domestic violence between the partners. Furthermore, children, suspected lovers, and other family members or pets may be held as hostages, as well. This type of scenario is so commonplace that all patrol officers should be trained how to initially respond to the scenario in a manner least likely to result in escalation. However, not all domestic dispute hostage-scenarios are true hostage scenarios; oftentimes they are little more than victims in the making, because the hostage-taker's goal is not actually to achieve anything other than hurting or killing the people he has taken hostage. It is critical for negotiators to realize the difference between hostages and victims-in-the-making.