Presented by Jean Paul NadeauFormer Hostage Negotiator,

Consultant, Author of “Hostage to Myself”

Slide references: Practical Police Psychology

Dr. Laurence Miller6 Hostage Negotiation

Techniques That Will Get You What You Want - Time

HOSTAGE NEGOTIATIONS AND THE ART OF

INFLUENCE

• Introduction: Who I am and how this presentation can apply to you

• Blog/tweet what you’re experiencing• What would you like to take away from this presentation?

Your curiosity and issues are the most important ones to address today. In addition to the ones listed on the objectives slide, please feel free to tell me if there are any others you would like for me to add to the list

• Your participation – your opinions and your questions and our scenarios

WELCOME

CONNECT – RESPECT - PROTECT

• Define the term hostage• Situations someone can find themselves hostage to• Who are the hostage takers? Motivations?• Traits of a good hostage negotiator• Basic Protocol• The team• How the principles of hostage negotiation apply to

business negotiations• Mock scenarios…

OBJECTIVES

• A hostage is anyone who finds themselves taken or seized by someone who has power and control over their actions

• Incidents involving hostages vary in motivations

• In a hostage or crisis negotiation, lives are at imminent risk of violent death at the hands of depressed, suicidal, homicidal, mentally ill, desperate, panicked, drug and/or alcohol induced individual (s)

• Resolution of hostage crisis' may take hours or even days of focused and intense negotiation, requiring skilled communication strategies, an understanding of human nature and psychology

HOSTAGE

• There are three especially dangerous periods during a hostage crisis:

• The initial 15 - 45 minutes when confusion and panic are generally the highest

• During the surrender of the hostage taker (s) when emotions can run high, planned surrender may not go as smoothly as anticipated

• Finally, when a decision has been reached to deploy Tactical Support Officers to rescue hostages. This decision is made when Negotiation fails and it carries the highest casualty rate potential for at least two reasons: first, reasonable attempts to negotiate have failed. Violence or death to the hostages is a high probability. Next, a firefight may ensue and during the confusion and exchange in the rescue attempt and innocent hostages may be caught in the crossfire or killed.

THREE ESPECIALLY CRITICAL TIMES DURING

CRISIS

• The on-scene commander: the person in charge of the actual hostage crisis. The commander is responsible for everything that goes on at the crisis scene, from establishing perimeters and traffic control, to directing the activity of negotiators, to deploying the tactical team, to liaising with emergency medical and community services.  

• The negotiator. The preferred model is to have one primary negotiator and one secondary or backup negotiator. The backup (secondary) takes over if the primary negotiator is unable to establish sufficient communication with the hostage taker, if there are language or cultural barriers involved, or if the primary negotiator needs a break after many hours of negotiating. He/she also keeps detailed notes, records times of demands and keeps a “live board” updated

THE TEAM

• The intelligence officer. His/her job is to gather information about the hostage-taker and hostages — including family members, past criminal and/or mental heath treatment history, demographics, identity of the hostages and their relation to the HT, and any other intelligence that will be useful in planning and carrying out the negotiation.

• The communications officer. His/her function is to keep in contact with all of individuals and agencies who are important in managing the crisis, such as firefighting and emergency medical services, local electrical power and phone companies, public transportation agencies, local businesses, and the media. Many departments have a public information officer who is charged with the specific duty of timely, accurate, and rumour-free information to the media and general public, without compromising the operation

THE TEAM

• The tactical team. Consists of a Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) unit, specialized marksmen, and other professionals whose sole job is to be prepared to make a forced entry if and when it is determined by the on-scene commander (through the Negotiator) that negotiations have failed and that hostages are in imminent danger. They will effect the arrest of the suspects (s) and secure the hostages.

• Considering that the highest fatality rate in hostage crises occurs during tactical incursion, the decision to order such an action is an excruciatingly difficult one. In some cases, no actual forced entry may occur, but other tactical measures may be utilized, e.g. sniper action against the HTs, or sending in gas or flash-bangs to immobilize the HTs or flush them out. Again, these measures are to used with extreme caution and only as a last resort, when life is in immediate danger

THE TEAM

• The team psychologist. Generally has two main roles: (1) participation in team development, training, and selection of personnel; and (2) operational assistance during the crisis itself, including monitoring of negotiation progress, psychological profiling of hostages and HTs, assessment of danger and risk level, monitoring the mental status of negotiators and other personnel at the scene, and participating in both operational and critical incident stress debriefings following the incident

AND FINALLY…

• The first priority is to isolate and contain the HT and to secure the perimeter. The goal is to keep the HT in and keep others out. As a general rule, the perimeter should be large enough to allow freedom of movement of the tactical and negotiating teams, and small enough to be kept under observation and control by the authorities. More than one perimeter, i.e., inner and outer, may be necessary. 

• General Communication Strategies in Hostage Negotiation: Establish contact. Open dialog with an introduction and statement of purpose: “I’m Paul. I’m a police officer with the Metropolitan Police Department, Crisis Negotiations Unit. I’m here for you and to make sure everybody stays safe.”  Keep the introduction as simple as possible, and always strive for honesty and credibility. Keep your voice firm but calm, and convey your confidence in the fact that this is a temporary crisis that will be resolved safely.

BASIC PROTOCOL

• To build rapport, begin by asking what the HT prefers to be called. When in doubt, address him/her respectfully. Try to use a name that is familiar to him. If you’re not sure, don’t automatically assume that William will respond favourably to “Bill” or “Willy.” If no first name is available, use respectful titles, like “Mr. Smith.” If the name is unknown, use “sir,” rather than “pal” or “buddy.”

• The goal is to establish rapport and trust as quickly as possible using effective communication skills. The initial phase is critical and everyone appreciates being treated with dignity and respect, despite the circumstances.

• Establish that everyone is without injury, including the HT. If medical treatment is necessary for anyone, begin by communicating the benefits of providing immediate treatment.

• Listen to the HT. Find out what drove him/her to this point. Let them vent. Keep in mind that the HT may not even hear your words for several minutes due to an elevated degree of stress brought on at times by “fight or flight”.

RAPPORT BUILDING

• Consider demands. Guide the HT to rational thinking. Be honest at all times. Help the HT see the “big picture” without turning them off. Focus on them and not the hostages whenever possible. The less they think about the hostages, the best.

• Be adaptable; use active listening skills; paraphrase; be charismatic; be patient; influence; guide; be respectful; be confident; be calm; remain aware and focused.

• Negotiations may take several hours and even days. Be mentally prepared. Remain focused on seeing everyone to safety.

• When a resolution is reached, prepare the HT for what is about to take place.

RAPPORT BUILDING

• The surrender procedure is a critical one. Preparing the HT for what is about to transpire must be carefully and honestly explained. Emotions become extremely elevated. It’s not over until the HT is in custody and the hostages are secure that a negotiation may be considered successful.

SURRENDER

• The Behavioural Change Stairway Model applies to most types of disagreements – not only to barricaded suspects and hostage negotiations

• 5 Steps to conflict resolution:• 1) Active listening: Truly listening to their point of view• 2) Empathy: The ability to understand their point of

view• 3) Rapport: Empathy is what you feel. Rapport is when

they feel they’re being understood and there is a human connection built on trust

• 4) Influence: Now that they trust you, you’ve earned the right to work on problem solving with them and recommend a course of action

• 5) Behavioural Change: They act.

NEGOTIATION TECHNIQUES IN THE REAL WORLD

• In many business negotiations, there is a tendency to skip directly to step 4: Influence and expect step 5, Change

• Former head of the FBI international hostage negotiations division Chris Voss puts it this way: “…business negotiations try to pretend that emotions don’t exist. What’s your best alternative to a negotiated agreement, or ‘BATNA’? That’s to try to be completely unemotional and rational, which is a fiction about negotiation. Human beings are incapable of being rational, regardless… So instead of pretending emotions don’t exist in negotiations, hostage negotiators have actually designed an approach that takes emotions fully into account and uses them to influence situations, which is the reality of the way all negotiations go…”

BATNA – BEST ALTERNATIVES TO A

NEGOTIATED AGREEMENT

• The most critical step in the Behavioural Change Staircase is Active Listening. The other steps follow.

• From Voss: “If while you’re making your argument, the only time the other side is silent is because they’re thinking about their own argument, they’ve got a voice in their head that’s talking to them. They’re not listening to you. When they’re making their argument to you, you’re thinking about your argument, that’s the voice in your head that’s talking to you. So it’s very much like dealing with a schizophrenic. If your first objective in the negotiation, instead of making your argument, is to hear the other side out, that’s the only way you can quiet the voice in the other guy’s mind. But most people don’t do that. They don’t walk into a negotiation wanting to hear what the other side has to say. They walk into a negotiation wanting to make an argument. They don’t pay attention to emotions and they don’t listen”

CRITICAL STEPS TO SUCCESS IN NEGOTIATIONS

• The basics of active listening are pretty straightforward:• Listen to what they say. Don’t interrupt, disagree or

“evaluate.”• Nod your head, and make brief acknowledging

comments like “yes” and “uh-huh.”• Without being awkward, repeat back the gist of

what they just said, from their frame of reference.• Inquire. Ask questions that show you’ve been paying

attention and that move the discussion forward.

ACTIVE LISTENING

• 1) Open ended questions: “It sounds like you’re having a very hard time with this. Tell me how it all happened”.

• 2) Effective pauses: Pausing is powerful. Use it for emphasis, to encourage someone to keep talking or to defuse things when people get emotional.

• 3) Minimal encouragers: “I see”, “Yes”, “Go on…”• 4) Mirroring: Repeating the last word or phrase the

person said to show you’re listening and engaged. Yes, it’s that simple — just repeat the last word or two: “For example, a subject may declare, “I’m sick and tired of being pushed around,” to which the negotiator can respond, “Feel pushed, huh?” (Gary Noesner)

6 STEPS USED BY NEGOTIATORS

• 5) Paraphrasing: Repeating what the other person is saying back to them in your own words. This powerfully shows you really do understand and aren’t merely parroting. “If I understand you correctly, what you’re saying is….”

• 6) Emotional Labeling: Give their feelings a name. It shows you’re identifying with how they feel. Don’t comment on the validity of the feelings — they could be totally crazy — but show them you understand. “A good use of emotional labeling would be “You sound pretty hurt about being left. It doesn’t seem fair,” because it recognizes the feelings without judging them. It is a good Additive Empathetic response because it identifies the hurt that underlies the anger the woman feels and adds the idea of justice to the actor’s message, an idea that can lead to other ways of getting justice. A poor response would be “You don’t need to feel that way. If he was messing around on you, he was not worth the energy.” It is judgmental. It tells the subject how not to feel. It minimizes the subject’s feelings, which are a major part of who she is. It is Subtractive Empathy”. (Voss)

6 STEPS

• John Chapman is 24. He’s been diagnosed with cancer and has 6 months to live.

• Very devoted to his family and especially to his 8 year old sister Robyn, John has walked into the National Bank to plead for money from the bank manager who has obviously refused. When asked to leave, John refused and two bank employees tried to escort him out. John grabbed a sharp letter opener from the presidents desk and is now holding it to the presidents throat, demanding that the money be deposited. He doesn’t care if he lives or dies at this time. He is only focused on the deposit

• Volunteers?

SCENARIO 1 – ACTOR/NEGOTIATOR

• Rose Chapman is 34. She has an addiction to alcohol and just lost custody of her 6 year old daughter Jane – who means the world to her. She also lost her job and has become suicidal.

• Rose left a “good-bye” message for her daughter on her ex’s answering machine. He retrieved it immediately and drove to the hotel Jane has taken a room in while she got back on her feet. The police were called and have established an outer perimeter. There is a phone in Rose’s room and that line has been secured by the police.

• The Negotiator is now on-scene.• Volunteer?

SCENARIO 2

• Abdul is 30. Twice paroled for armed robbery, he is an addict and desperate for fast cash. He walked into a convenience store armed with a gun. Several customers were in the store when he pulled out his gun and demanded cash from the clerk and during the commotion, one customer ran out of the store yelling, “Call 9-1-1!”

• Abdul locked the store door and now has 3 hostages. The police were in the vicinity and a Negotiator has been called.

• Volunteer?

SCENARIO 3

• Questions?• Paul Nadeau – 416-568-4007• jpaulnadeau@gmail.com• Domestic terrorism lectures available; speaking

engagements available

THANK YOU