Police response to crisis situations

Crisis Negotiations

There are numerous stages in a crisis scenarios. Crises can be seen as happening in stages that have different characteristics and require different skills to manage" (McMains & Mullins, 2010, p.25). These stages are: pre-crisis, crisis/defusing, adaptation/negotiation, and resolution/surrender (McMains & Mullins, 2010, p.25). Pre-crisis does not refer to a specific event, but to an organization prior to a crisis. It is characterized by practice, planning, and prevention by the negotiators and their support teams (McMains & Mullins, 2010, p.25). The crisis/defusing stage involves the recognition that there is a crisis and the negotiators attempts to deescalate the situation into one where there can be negotiation. It is during this time period that negotiators often assess whether a crisis is negotiable. They also assess the nature of the crisis: it is not considered a hostage scenario unless human life is at stake, even if the taker is threatening inanimate objects or non-human living creatures. They use the following techniques during the crisis/defusing stage: reassurance, active listening, emotional labeling, paraphrasing, reflection of feelings, effective pauses, and mimicking (McMains & Mullins, 2010, p.25). All of these tools are aimed at establishing a relationship between the negotiator and the taker. This facilitates the growth of the next stage, which is the adaptation/negotiation stage. In many ways, the negotiator is working as a facilitator for the hostage taker, helping the hostage taker realize that he or she has alternatives to the scenario that they have established. Negotiators use: open ended questions, problem-oriented questions, persuasion and influence techniques, and I-messages in this phase to help transition to problem solving (McMains & Mullins, 2010, p.25). The final stage is the resolution/surrender phase, which is ideally characterized by the release of any hostages and the peaceful surrender of the taker. The goal of this stage is a peaceful resolution and managing increasing tensions. Negotiators use guided imagery and stress management techniques to help maintain emotional stability during this phase of a crisis (McMains & Mullins, 2010, p.25).

Police bargaining in crisis situations focuses on saving lives, rather than the preservation of property when the crisis is a hostage crisis (McMains & Mullins, 2010, p.25). However, crisis scenarios can occur in non-hostage contexts. The overriding goal must be safety, not just to any hostages, but also to the general public. The police are also constrained by norms dictating which demands they can meet. Even when there has already been violence, it is possible for crisis negotiators to negotiate successful and peaceful resolutions to a crisis. Generally, negotiators will try to use time to their advantage, increasing the basic needs of the takers, collect intelligence on the takers, and decrease the takers' expectations that their demands will be met (McMains & Mullins, 2010, p.23).