NCJ Number
152754
Journal
Police Chief Volume: 61 Issue: 11 Dated: (November 1994) Pages: 14,16-18
Date Published
1994
Length
4 pages
Annotation
Crisis negotiation is increasingly being integrated within law enforcement as a critical capability for handling such high- profile events as armed criminals, suicidal individuals, violent domestic barricade situations, and hostage taking, but a comprehensive database on crisis negotiation activities is lacking.
Abstract
To address law enforcement needs associated with crisis negotiation, the current project involved the development of the Crisis Negotiation Survey (CNS), a 32-item questionnaire that focused on crisis negotiation team (CNT) characteristics, training practices, and information needs. Questionnaires completed by 142 CNT's provided information on the following: demographic characteristics of CNT's, team selection and training, time incident responses, the use of mental health professionals in crisis negotiation, information and training needs of negotiators, and the perceived need for a national crisis negotiation clearinghouse. CNS results revealed that most crisis negotiators were white males whose primary duties involved police patrol or investigation. Most CNT's received 5 or fewer days of initial negotiator training, and most initial training was provided by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Over half of all CNT's spent five or fewer days annually in continuing negotiator training. Most CNT's responded to and actually negotiated 10 or fewer crisis situations during 1991. The three most common incident types were suicides, barricades, and domestic situations. Only about half of all CNT's used a mental health professional as a consultant, with the most predominant function being that of a postincident counselor. Team leaders indicated a need for extensive information and training, and most supported the development of a national clearinghouse to retrieve, analyze, and disseminate information on crisis negotiation. 2 references