Moral Considerations Concerning the Police Response to Hostage Takers (From Ethics, Public Policy, and Criminal Justice, P 110-132, 1982, Frederick Elliston and Norman Bowie, eds. - See NCJ-86248)

• NCJ Number: 86255
• Author(s): J Betz
• Date Published: 1982
• Length: 23 pages
• Sale Source: Oelgeschlager, Gunn and Hain Publishers, Inc
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This essay reviews five logical possibilities for a policy of police response to hostagetakers and proposes the ideal moral strategy for dealing with a hostage situation.

Abstract

Policy possibilities for dealing with a hostage situation are that (1) the authorities may attack without any attempt at negotiation, (2) they may neither attack nor negotiate but wait out the hostagetakers, (3) they may negotiate without compromising, (4) they may negotiate and compromise, or (5) they may negotiate and lie about concessions. An analysis of these possibilities yields a moral ideal that authorities should consider: it is better to negotiate than to attack, better to negotiate honestly than dishonestly, and better to make small concessions to the hostagetakers demands than to adopt a policy of no concessions. Such an approach appears to offer the best possibility for avoiding loss of anyone's life. This approach suggests that police rather than soldiers should be given the task of handling hostage situations, because they are more accustomed to and skilled in handling situations involving civilians than are soldiers. While there is no evidence to support the view that authorities tend to favor the use of force or negotiation under false pretenses, there are indications that the public perceives the authorities as being devious in negotiations and prone to use violence against hostagetakers. This would appear to place the authorities in an untenable moral posture that they should make every effort to overcome. Thirty-one notes are listed.