ABSTRACT
Hostage negotiation is comprised of two elements: crisis intervention and bargaining techniques. Written as an equation,
Most police departments were doing little if any bargaining. If there was any bargaining, it was over relatively minor issues, such as cigarettes, telephone calls, moving law enforcement vehicles back, etc. If bargaining is taken out of the equation, hostage negotiators become crisis interveners. If a negotiation team is not bargaining during a “typical” incident, their “typical” incident is almost certainly not a hostage situation.
