Hostage Negotiations and Crisis Intervention, Phase I and II (Pierpoint)

Instructor: Brandon Pierpoint

Duration: 4.5 Days

Professional Development Hours: 40 PD hours

Cost: Starting at $675.00

Course Overview

This comprehensive 40-hour training program provides law enforcement professionals with essential skills in hostage negotiation and crisis intervention. The course spans four full days (8am-4pm local time) plus a final half-day (8am-12pm local time), with the remaining hours devoted to examination components. Students will complete evening homework assignments, including case law review, analysis of current incidents, and scenario scripting.

Course Content

Introduction and Orientation: Participants will be introduced to course instructors and curriculum overview, with historical context of negotiation practices and review of materials and recommended readings delivered through lecture format.

Required and Suggested Equipment: This section familiarizes students with necessary equipment for hostage and barricaded subject responses, including hostage communication devices, response vehicles, ballistic protection, tactical identification gear, surveillance equipment, and radio communications systems. Instruction combines lecture and PowerPoint presentations.

Fundamentals of Hostage Negotiation: Learners will explore core theoretical principles including incident classification, reasons for law enforcement negotiation approaches, emotional versus rational decision-making, incident management strategies, hostage-taker and hostage profiles, negotiator qualifications, and time management considerations. Delivery includes lecture, PowerPoint, and video components.

Active Listening Techniques: Students will develop listening skills specific to crisis scenarios, learning to paraphrase, restate information, and confirm understanding of messages. This section utilizes lecture, PowerPoint, and video instruction.

Mental Health for Negotiators: This component examines psychological dimensions of crisis negotiation, covering irrational and inappropriate behavioral responses, personality disorders, and mental health conditions negotiators typically encounter. Instruction combines lecture, PowerPoint, and video formats.

Bunches of 5: Students will collaboratively develop and construct materials for their home agencies, brainstorming preplanned responses to anticipated concerns and demands.

Suicide Intervention: Participants will learn common emotional drivers for suicidal individuals, characteristics of major depressive disorder, and suicide risk assessment methodologies.

Situation Boards: This section teaches information and intelligence management during active incidents, emphasizing accurate data transposition and organization. Delivery includes lecture, PowerPoint, and video components.

NOC Protocol: Students will learn to establish and organize Negotiations Operations Command structures, understanding team member functions and information-sharing protocols. Instruction uses lecture, PowerPoint, and video formats.

Third Party Intermediaries: This block covers considerations for utilizing third-party intermediaries and best practices for their effective deployment. Delivery combines lecture, PowerPoint, and video instruction.

Tactical Coordination: Students will examine the tactical team's role in hostage situations and the collaborative relationships required between tactical units, negotiators, and incident commanders. Instruction uses lecture, PowerPoint, and video formats.

Managing Demands: This section explores strategies for addressing hostage-taker demands, including non-negotiable demands, tactics for demand modification or reframing, and techniques for managing stated deadlines. Delivery includes lecture, PowerPoint, and video components.

Stress Management: Students will examine stress effects on hostage-takers, hostages, and negotiators, developing coping strategies and understanding the Yerkes-Dodson Principle relating stress to performance outcomes. Instruction combines lecture, PowerPoint, and video formats.

Course Structure

Daily homework assignments support skill development and account for the 5 additional training hours. Assignments include case law analysis, current incident reviews, and scenario scripting. Group discussions regarding case law and current incidents occur daily, with practical application exercises integrated throughout the training week.