The Sioux Falls Police Department fields a six-person Crisis Negotiation Unit (CNU). The CNU consists of Detectives Mike Colwill, Steve Schaefer, and Jamie Buteyn along with Officers Tara Walton, Bret Hamlyn, and Sgt. Tom Ward. Each member receives a 40-hour basic negotiation training regimen prior to serving as a primary negotiator.

New team members who have not received the specialized training are tasked with equipment set up, gathering intelligence, and other duties during call-outs.

Continuing education and assistance to other agencies are important facets of CNU membership. Each member routinely attends a 40-hour advanced course once they are comfortable in their roles. In 2010, the team took advantage of outside training, including a three-day Advanced Negotiations course. Team members also assisted a prison team with in-service training, assisted Tactical Dispatchers with scenario training, and presented before groups such as the Police Explorers and Citizens’ Academy.

The CNU augments its training throughout the year with monthly meetings. The meetings focus on recent call-out debriefings, equipment issues and needs, new ideas and future scenarios, and other opportunities. The team also has members trained in Crisis Intervention and Peer Support (CISM). The CISM may be called out to assist agencies during and after critical incidents. Peer support members are available to help both agencies and individuals involved in a critical incident to meet and discuss the incident and its impact on them.

The CNU is activated as part of the Crisis Response Team (CRT). The CNU often functions in conjunction with SWAT and the Bomb Squad. Negotiators respond to incidents such as hostage situations, barricaded subjects, suicidal individuals, and high-risk warrants. The main purpose of the CNU is to preserve life during these critical situations, which includes the lives of citizens, law enforcement, and suspects. The goal of the negotiator is clear: zero acceptable loss. In 2010, these call-outs included an armed man who had threatened himself and others with a handgun. The subject was eventually convinced to lay down the weapon and seek assistance. In another incident, a subject agreed to exit his home peacefully after originally firing several shots during an argument.

The success of the CNU depends on several factors, but most importantly it depends on teamwork. Negotiations are not a solitary endeavor, but the result of a team with and supporting each other with the common goal of bringing a potentially dangerous situation to a peaceful end.