Understanding the communication dynamics inherent to police hostage and crisis negotiation

This book chapter synopsises the current literature base in relation to the communication dynamics that are inherent to police crisis negotiations. Whilst crisis negotiation as an entity has existed as a police tool since the 1980s, negotiators are constantly having to adapt and evolve in line with the every-changing terrain of crisis scenarios that are encountered. Police negotiators are essentially expert communicators who utilise various communicative tools and techniques to de-escalate and resolve hostage or crisis scenarios. The research literature reveals a variety of communication dynamics that are deemed to be effective when applied within crisis negotiation contexts, including both linguistic and behavioural patterns within the dialogue used by negotiators when communicating with subjects. These communication dynamics fall into three domains. Firstly, linguistic analysis (using linguistic style matching) of live crisis negotiation scenario dialogue has revealed linguistic patterns within verbal communication that facilitate the resolution of incidents, suggesting that the language utilised by negotiators can specifically play a role in whether incidents are resolved successfully or not. Secondly, a repertoire of effective verbal communication tactics or strategies has been developed, that allows negotiators to select the most appropriate communicative tool from their metaphorical toolbox at any given time. Lastly, academics/practitioners have developed models of negotiation based on the behavioural styles of verbal communication that are associated with successful de-escalation of crisis situations that can be used to guide operational negotiator practice. The current book chapter describes these three different approaches and critically evaluates the usefulness of each approach to operational negotiator practice, whilst considering the ongoing evolution of police crisis negotiation in modern society.