DELAWARE STATE POLICE CONFLICT MANAGEMENT TEAM
Sergeant Bernard Miller
The Conflict Management Team consists of troopers who have been specially trained in crisis & suicide intervention, hostage negotiation and kidnap mediation. Their training emphasizes the communication skills needed to resolve crisis situations without violence. These skills combine loose psychological principals and accepted police practices to safeguard all individuals involved and responding. Under the direction of Unit Commander Sgt. Bernard Miller and Assistant Unit commander Cpl/3 Kelly Wells, team members respond to hostage, barricaded, suicidal and kidnapping incidents throughout the state.
The team’s proficiencies are developed through operational experiences and critiques, participatory training and facilitating training for others. The exercises include seminars, role-play scenarios, semi-annual joint training with the Special Operations Response Team (SORT) members of the command post and regular monthly training.
For the 7th consecutive year, team members instructed a 40-hour Basic Crisis Intervention and Hostage Negotiations course, as well as several 16-hours Crisis Intervention for Communications Specialists courses. The combination of advanced training and some of the most sophisticated equipment available in the state continues to increase the effectiveness and efficiency of the team.
In 2008, members of the team attended the twenty-ninth annual Hostage negotiation Seminar sponsored by the F.B.I. in conjunction with the Baltimore County Police Hostage Negotiations in Baltimore Maryland. This conference was attended by approximately 800 negotiators from all over the United States and Canada. This years conference marked a first for the Delaware State Police when Captain Ron Hagan, along with F.B.I. Special Agent Michael Helms presented a block of instruction on “coaching during crisis negotiation”.
The DSP Conflict Management Team was activated a total of 7 times in 2008, which is an increase of calls for service from 2007. Of the 7 incidents, 1 was a reported domestic related hostage situation, while the other 6 callouts involved suicidal/barricaded subjects. Each of these incidents was handled with a full team response which included S.O.R.T and the command post. Unfortunately two (2) of the barricaded suicidal subjects ended in a victim precipitated homicide or (Suicide by Cop). All incidents for the year 2008 occurred at the home of the person in crisis.
In the coming year the CMT will continue to focus on improving the team’s skills and abilities through continued training and collaboration with other teams and agencies. We will continue to support the division and work to improve the knowledge of all police officers interested in learning more about crisis intervention and hostage negotiations.
- Information obtained from 2008 DSP
Annual Report -
