The Analysis of Police Crisis Negotiations: Important Interactional Features (original) (raw)
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Critical Incidents: Staging and Process in Crisis Negotiations
Much of the literature on using communication skills in negotiations in critical incidents focuses primarily on analyses at the word, clause, or sentence level (or micro level), and typically classifies, labels, and interprets these in terms of sets of active listening skills (minoring, emotion labeling, paraphrasing, etc.), or suggested example phrases that negotiators need to draw upon for rapport-building during an incident. The analysis presented in this paper attempts to move away from this micro level focus by analysing the stages and processes of a critical incident from a macro or discourse view. It is proposed that an analysis of the ways that the interaction between the police negotiator and the person of interest (POI) moves through various stages, and cycles through various interactive processes, can be revealing in terms of the critical moments when these occur, and in explicating the ways that critical incidents can unfold.
Modern day hostage (crisis) negotiation: The evolution of an art form within the policing arena
Aggression and Violent Behavior, 2010
This article explores the role of hostage (crisis) negotiation in the 21st century by reviewing literature on hostage negotiation historically, the dynamics of crisis situations typically encountered by hostage negotiators, the models existing to conceptualize crisis negotiation, and the strategies utilized by negotiators to successfully resolve crisis situations. The article then suggests possible advancements or directions for further research within the field of hostage negotiation, with particular reference to the requirement for cross-cultural comparison of techniques and strategies utilized by negotiators internationally to provide a better understanding of the cultural uniqueness/understanding of crisis negotiators operating within different countries. The article also suggests a shift in the focus of research looking at techniques and strategies which result in successful resolution of crisis situations onto the identification of negotiator characteristics and traits which govern effective negotiation and ability to cope with the pressures instilled by the role.
Negotiation Journal, 2005
This article extends Michael R. Hammer and Randall G. Rogan’s communication-based, interactive model of crisis negotiation by examining the role of active listening by a police negotiator in New South Wales, Australia in the process of serving a “high-risk warrant” on an armed and dangerous man who was expected to resist. Through an analysis of the interaction between the perpetrator and the negotiator, this paper demonstrates that the use of active listening in the early stages of the negotiation was a critical factor in the resolution of this crisis and is an essential skill for any hostage negotiator.
Language in Crisis Negotiations: The Rizal Park Hostage-Taking Incident
3L The Southeast Asian Journal of English Language Studies, 2022
This paper is aimed at examining the Rizal Park hostage-taking incident from the lens of forensic linguistics that looks into crime management. The incident happened on August 23, 2010 in Manila, Philippines when a tourist bus loaded with 20 Hong Kong nationals was hijacked by a disgruntled former officer of the Philippine National Police by the name of Rolando Mendoza. Employing the DIAMOND model of Grubb et al. (2020), FBI's Behavioral Change Stairway Model (BCSM), and Hammer's (2007) S.A.F.E. model, the study analyzed the stages in the negotiation process employed by the negotiators, the relationship-building process and the communicative dynamics of the hostage-taking incident. Findings revealed that the stages of negotiation in the DIAMOND model were not all carried out. Following the BCSM model, the negotiators were not able to build empathy with the hostage-taker. Communicative dynamics as reflected in the S.A.F.E. model was not likewise successful as pertinent information was not transmitted with maximum effectiveness. The poor handling of the incident and the failure of the negotiation led to the eventual death of innocent people, including the hostage-taker himself and the issuance by the Hong Kong government of a 'black' travel alert for the Philippines. It is hoped that with this study, a more effective and efficient way of managing crime incidents in the country can be carried out to avoid further disasters.
Crisis Negotiation in the Law Enforcement Context
Oxford Research Encyclopedia, 2021
Law enforcement negotiation is one of the only times when a law enforcement officer interacts with an offender during the commission of a crime and, as such, can influence the outcome of the situation in favor of law enforcement. All other interactions between offenders take place after the commission of the crime or during undercover operations when the law enforcement officer is hiding his or her identity. Law enforcement crisis negotiation (LECN) provides techniques, tactics, and procedures for seamlessly dealing with difficult, dangerous, and disordered persons to obtain voluntary compliance through the application of verbal influence-based skill sets. LECN is a method by which to deal with perceived threats to a subject’s emotional, psychological, or physical well-being during intense conflict or crisis situations. Understanding critical incidents and the mindset of a subject is critical to determining the proper communication strategies and tactics. At the heart of the process is understanding and assessing instrumental and expressive behavior in order to apply tactical negotiation or crisis intervention. A key skill set to being effective in negotiating with difficult, dangerous, and disordered persons is to build credibility through the application of the Behavioral Influence Stairway Model (BISM) in the effective application of active listening skills, empathy, rapport-trust, and influence to persuade behavioral change on the part of the subject.
Applied Linguistics, 2018
This paper reveals how negotiators, from the police and emergency call centres, overcome resistance towards the negotiation from suicidal persons in crisis. Communication guidance to hostage and crisis negotiators recommends against challenging the person in crisis, focusing instead on a softer, rapportful approach. Using conversation analysis, we investigate how negotiators deal with resistance, turn by turn, in encounters collected from British police negotiators’ field recordings, and American police 9-1-1 dispatch telephone calls. In contrast to existing communication guidance, we show that and how challenges can be productive for bringing about positive shifts in suicidal persons’ behaviour. We demonstrate how negotiators challenge the reasoning in their interlocutors’ resistant responses and leverage these challenges productively in the next turn. By studying real (rather than hypothetical or simulated) negotiations, the study reveals the tacit expertise of negotiators and the...
The backstage work negotiators do when communicating with persons in crisis
Journal of Sociolinguistics, 2019
When a person in crisis threatens suicide, police negotiators engage them in a conversation to prevent death. Working in small teams, the primary negotiator's role is to talk directly to the person in crisis. A secondary negotiator, working "behind the scenes," supports the ongoing negotiation. Using 31 hours of audio-recorded British negotiations, we uncover the backstage work of secondary negotiators. We use conversation analysis to identify the sequential position, linguistic form, and action of the secondary negotiator's interventions on (1) the delivery (e.g. "sound angry") and (2) next actions (e.g. "say please," "try asking them to move") of the primary negotiator, and how the primary incorporates them into the negotiation. Our analysis shows that, while some suggestions were effective, others disrupted the flow of the negotiation as well as the alignment between primary negotiator and person in crisis. The paper augments current sociolinguistic understandings of the high-stakes language