Advanced Hostage and Crisis Negotiations

Instructor: Darryl Rivers

Duration: 4 Days (32 Professional Development Hours)

Cost: $575.00

Schedule: 8:00 AM - 5:00 PM local time each day

Course Overview

This advanced training program is designed to enhance the crisis negotiation skills of officers who have already completed foundational negotiation training. The course provides comprehensive instruction on specialized topics and contemporary challenges in hostage and crisis intervention.

Course Topics

• Dealing with Death During Negotiations: Exploration of emotional and operational impacts when fatalities occur during negotiations, with strategies for managing these critical situations and supporting affected team members.
• Intelligence Management and NOC Operations: Methods for collecting, analyzing, and applying intelligence information effectively, including the use of situation boards in negotiation operations centers.
• Text Message Negotiations: Techniques and strategies for conducting negotiations via text messaging, addressing the unique challenges and advantages of this communication method.
• Case Law and Legal Implications: Review of relevant case law affecting crisis negotiations and their direct and indirect implications for negotiation practices.
• Diverse Populations: Specialized approaches for negotiating with combat veterans, individuals on the autism spectrum, and the hearing impaired.
• Suicide Intervention: Comprehensive instruction on recognizing suicide risk factors and indicators, understanding suicide trends, and applying effective intervention techniques for actively suicidal individuals.
• Talk from Cover and Open Air Situations: Training for negotiations conducted outside the protected environment of a vehicle-based operations center.
• Measuring Negotiation Progress: Methods for assessing and documenting progress during negotiations to inform command decision-making and tactical options.
• Cell Phone Challenges: Strategies for managing cellular communication issues and working with service providers to modify or restrict cellular service when necessary.
• Hostage-Related Dynamics: Understanding hostage behavior and psychological phenomena such as Stockholm syndrome and London syndrome.
• Translator-Assisted Negotiations: Addressing challenges specific to conducting negotiations through interpreters.
• Coaching Techniques: Proper and effective methods for coaching primary negotiators, including identification of common coaching errors.
• Risk Assessment: Processes for evaluating suspect motivation and determining the likelihood of violence.
• Practical Role Play Exercises: Hands-on training utilizing advanced electronic equipment, allowing participants to apply communication skills, recognize success factors, document activities, and integrate intelligence into realistic crisis scenarios.

Prerequisites

Participants must have successfully completed the Crisis Hostage Negotiations – Phase I and II course or a 40-hour equivalent before attending. This course is not recommended for negotiators without prior negotiation training. While this is not the Phase III certification course, completion meets the requirements for Phase III recertification.