Ert\'s Emergency Response Teams Often

ERT's

Emergency response teams often have to swing into action and they often include, and often SHOULD include, forensic psychologists because of the urgent and vital nature of having a clinical diagnosis in play during such a crisis. Modern and recent examples would include the manhunt for the Boston bombers, the aftermath of the Cleveland kidnapping morass, or any number of recent workplace or domestic shootings or kidnapping. The current case of the man who killed a mother and took her daughter and is on the loose now would be an example of a situation where a forensic psychologist could lend their thoughts and theories as a means to perhaps predict what a perpetrator is up to and what his/her next move might be.

A story from the New York Post about the Ariel Castro kidnapping was a hot mess in the respect that while most kidnappings are done by non-custodial family members, the family members of Ariel Castro as well as the man himself assisted in the search for the missing women even though Ariel Castro knew where the teens were the entire time (Calabrese, 2013). Such a case would throw off even the most seasoned cop or forensic psychologist but most forensic psychologists know full well that family members are (and should be) the first subjects and such tendencies make the ensuing gambits and tactics of the kidnappers predictable and forensic psychologists that respond as part of ERT's for things like Amber Alerts and what-not are able to offer their expertise and thus make it easier to not waste time and resources exploring leads that will probably not ge the desired results.

Another dimension that is worthy of consideration is hostage standoffs. The mindset of a person that has taken a hostage is very important and any tactics undergone can and should be provided (at least in part) by a forensic psychologist. The motive and actions of the person who took the hostages matters a ton when crafting a way to diffusing the situation. For example, a person barricaded in a bank after trying to rob it has different motives and priorities than someone who has kidnapped their child and is holed up in a house. The tactics will have to be different because what is driving the actions and how much the value the life and well-being of their hostage also varies a lot. A well-versed forensic psychologist should be on-site for any such crisis and should be giving advice to hostage negotiators and the police on the ground including SWAT and so forth.