Scenarios, Based on real-life hostage negotiations.
It's all to train officers in a way that some may not be accustomed to.
Amy Cave is one of the officers learning a new approach to communication.
"The stereotypical cop is one that runs up, grabs the facts and we are on our way. This helps us learn how to talk to people in a way that they are more accustomed to." - Amy Cave, Participating in Training
"So they are being disarmed of their basic tools, and we are giving them a new set of tools that are essential with the negotiating process" - Max Howard, Former FBI Special Agent
Max Howard is one of the instructors with Crisis System Management teaching this information to 30 officers from east Texas and beyond.
"Police from the area. Longview, Tyler, and even as far away as Tulsa Oklahoma came here to Longview to take part in Hostage negotiations in the building behind me" - Kevin Boyce,
Specifically, they're learning how to communicate with a suspect holding someone hostage, how to anticipate what their actions will be, and determine what move to make next.
Howard is a former FBI Special Agent and he's dealt with this before.
He says it all boils down to protecting people's lives in a dangerous situation.
"How to respond to a hostage situation, and how to deploy the most non-violent means to resolve that situation"- Max Howard
For students like Amy Cave, it's part of the job of protecting the people of East Texas, a job she's proud to do.
"We are actually talking about saving people's lives" - Amy Cave
