Freeing American Captives in Foreign Lands

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When two American missionaries were kidnapped last July in Haiti,negotiators from the Federal Bureau of Investigation were called into secure their release. The missionaries, both North Carolinanatives in Port Au Prince aiding relief efforts in the beleagueredCaribbean republic, would be held for four days as their captorsdemanded a ransom and the US crisis experts guided their familiesthrough wrenching negotiations.

In the end, negotiations succeeded and the two men were freed. Likenearly 100 other kidnappings of Americans in Haiti last year, andstill other hostage-takings in the US and overseas, their casehighlights the role of the FBI Crisis Negotiation Unit.

The unit, a major component of the FBI's Critical Incident ResponseGroup, was formed in 1994 and is dedicated to resolving hostage,barricade, attempted suicide, and kidnapping cases throughout theworld.

“Any time a US citizen gets kidnapped overseas we areresponsible for providing the negotiation piece of theinvestigation,” said FBI Special Agent John Flood, head ofthe negotiation unit, which manages more than 350 negotiatorsspread across our 56 field offices.

Flood said international calls routinely come through our networkof Legal Attaché (Legat) offices, which coordinate withFlood’s unit, which in turn calls up rapid responders in thefield. Every office has at least five trained crisis negotiators,Flood said. “There are always two people with bags packedready for deployments.”

Once deployed, negotiators meet up with the FBI Legal staff, aswell as Department of State or military officials, and makerecommendations. Often negotiators work closely with thevictims’ family members to resolve cases. In the Haiti case,for example, negotiators set up camp in a hotel and coached thevictims’ families on how to converse with the captors.

Flood’s unit has deployed overseas about 300 times since itscreation. One recent notable case includes the kidnapping andeventual release of journalist Jill Carroll in Iraq, who was heldcaptive for 82 days.

In the US, negotiators work closely with tactical teams, like SWATand Hostage Rescue, in barricade situations. Unlike what you mightsee on TV, one group doesn't trump the other; they work on acontinuum. Flood calls it a parallel application of force.“If we employ our strategies it provides a morerisk-effective environment for our tactical people to workin,” he said. “One of the most important things we dois keep our personnel safe.”

In fact, most barricades and hostage situations in the US areresolved through negotiations or a combination of negotiation andtactical force. Less than one in five incidents are resolvedstrictly through tactical means, Flood said. Indeed, theunit’s Latin motto is “Pax per Conloquium,” whichmeans “resolution through dialogue.”

The FBI maintains the only database on barricade situations. TheHostage Barricade Database System contains information on about5,000 incidents, most from state and local jurisdictions. Thedatabase is a service for law enforcement to learn from otherincidents—how they were resolved, weapons used, how long theincidents lasted, and how communications were handled.

FBI agents, meanwhile, have to pass a rigorous two-week NationalCrisis Negotiation Course, held a few times a year at the FBIAcademy in Quantico, Virginia, to become negotiators. The courseputs students in real-life scenarios and tests their mettle,because there are no second chances when called to help.

In the end it’s all about using communications as a tool tokeep Americans from harm. “We save people's lives,”Flood said. “That's what we do.”

Sources: Federal Bureau of Investigation, US Department of Justice,National Association of Chiefs of Police
Jim Kouri, CPP is currently fifth vice-president of the NationalAssociation of Chiefs of Police and he's a staff writer for the NewMedia Alliance (thenma.org). In addition, he's the new editor forthe House Conservatives Fund's weblog. Kouri also serves aspolitical advisor for Emmy and Golden Globe winning actor MichaelMoriarty.

He's former chief at a New York City housing project in WashingtonHeights nicknamed "Crack City" by reporters covering thedrug war in the 1980s. In addition, he served as director of publicsafety at a New Jersey university and director of security forseveral major organizations. He's also served on the National DrugTask Force and trained police and security officers throughout thecountry. Kouri writes for many police and security magazinesincluding Chief of Police, Police Times, The Narc Officer andothers. He's a news writer for TheConservativeVoice.Com andPHXnews.com. He's also a columnist for AmericanDaily.Com,MensNewsDaily.Com, MichNews.Com, and he's syndicated byAXcessNews.Com. He's appeared as on-air commentator for over 100TV and radio news and talk shows including Oprah, McLaughlinReport, CNN Headline News, MTV, Fox News, etc. His book Assume ThePosition is available at Amazon.Com. Kouri's own website is locatedat http://jimkouri.us