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5 J. Police Crisis Negot. 1 (2005)

handle is hein.journals/wpcn5 and id is 1 raw text is: EDITORIAL The Best in the Field to the Best in the Field Should we be shooting suicidal subjects? Probably not. Recently, I came across at least two instances when such action was taken when the first responding officers could not think of anything else to do, or when other equipment failed. Where were the negotiators? Why did not the first responding officers know more about dealing with suicidal subjects? And, if you are going to use equipment, such as Thomas A. Swift's Elec- tric Rifle (TASER), should there not be a back-up plan should the tech- nology not function as needed? And, shouldn't that back-up plan resort to methods less than deadly force? Of course, we should not be trying to kill victims who are suicidal and in need of our help. But without the proper training, forethought, and reasoning, likely, this is what will continue to happen. Commanders must understand the need to bring negotiators into these situations early and to allow them to do their jobs. Even if it is not clear that negotiators are needed, at least they should be put on alert so that they can respond if needed. At times, negotiators can give expert ad- vice by telephone to those on the scene. They may be able to speak tele- phonically to the victim also. Additionally, first responders must have better training about life-saving methods less than deadly force in such situations. The attachment to technology is unrelenting. To challenge this technology is often seen as blasphemy by those who just don't under- stand. The fact is that when technology fails, the human factors become extremely important. If officers are not trained to use their human Journal of Police Crisis Negotiations, Vol. 5(1) 2005 http://www.haworthpress.com/web/JPCN @ 2005 by The Haworth Press, Inc. All rights reserved. Digital Object Identifier: 10.1300/J173v05n01_01 1

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