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Talk Tactics and Negotiation Skills for First Responders

Length of Seminar: 2 Days
Instructor: Dominick J. Misino

Course Overview:
First Responder Procedures: When you pull upon a critical incident (hostage situation), do you try and communicate with the hostage taker? Who do you notify? Does your agency have a negotiation team or are you the one who has been selected by default? These and many more questions will be discussed.

Introduction To Crisis Negotiations: This session will examine the roots of Hostage / Crisis Negotiations. The students will learn the WHY of negotiating and the numerous ways that a Crisis Negotiation Team should be utilized.

Tactical Use Of Negotiating Skills: The roll of the NEGOTIATOR is misunderstood in many TACTICAL circles. The student will learn the value of Negotiators in deploying the tactical option.

First Responder Communication Skills: The student will be given an in-depth overview of Communication Skills. Both conversational speaking and listening are the tools of communication. (Active Listening Skills) The importance of being able to listen well is a necessary tool for the successful negotiator.

Psychology Of Negotiations: In this segment students will discuss in laymen’s terms the mental disorders that are prevalent during crisis situations. Identifying the mental disorder and dealing with it in a crisis situation.

Case Studies: Each and every hostage and crisis situation is different. The cases we will review are a diverse sampling of the instructor experiences. A burglar whom turns into a hostage situation, a bank hold-up goes bad and an international hijacking.

Suicide Intervention: Can you talk a person into committing suicide? The myths and the truth about suicide will be discussed.

The Resolution: Sometimes our success is bittersweet, we will discuss the GOOD and BAD side of a resolution.

The Aftermath: Stress, second guessing and Monday morning quarterbacking will be discussed.

Upon completion you will have gained the knowledge:

(1) First Responder Procedures
(2) Talk Tactics for Defusing Critical Incidents
(3) Understand the Crisis Team Structure
(4) Dynamics of Negotiations
(5) Value of Using Trained Police as Opposed to (Clergy, Politicians, Mental Health Professionals or Family Members)
(6) Psychology in Hostage Negotiation
(7) Communicating with People in Crisis (Bosses and Politicians Included)
(8) Effects of Stress on Law Enforcement Officers

First Responder (Talk Tactics) training is a valuable tool. All professionals who have to deal with people in crisis and crisis situations can better serve their agency and community by being prepared to the highest levels.

Agencies large and small can only benefit by having their personnel better trained to deal with crisis situations immediately. The action a first responder takes can save lives; training in this area is a MUST.

First Responders are not expected to be professional negotiators BUT they are expected to take some action to bring the situation to a safe conclusion. Many crisis situations can be ended peacefully with the mere tactic of calm goal orientated conversation. A first responder can start to calm a subject while waiting for professional negotiators.

What about the many communities that do not have trained negotiators. A patrol officer pulls upon a scene and finds a distraught man in a convenient store holding hostages. The man says he wants to talk to his wife and he will end this situation.

Question:
Does the officer find the mans wife and let him talk to her?

Answer:
NO

Reason:
Although it seems on the surface, to someone who is not trained this would be a quick way to bring this situation to a safe conclusion. Without knowing the total relationship between the man and his wife allowing him to talk to her can be a fatal mistake. We have learned from numerous hostage situations that one of the most dangerous and volatile situations are the domestic one. History and experience has shown us that when a spouse is asking for his wife during these types of situations he is preparing to either commit revenge suicide or homicide and then suicide. The subject wants to punish his wife forever by making it all her fault.

This seminar will help you and your first responders make your community a safer place to live and work.