Police Psych Midterm Essay

In the following scenario, analyze
the dynamics of a crisis/hostage situation. write a paper with a minimum of 6
written pages using APA format.

Scenario: You are a police psychologist for a
major metropolitan area.You are also a member of its hostage
negotiation team. You have been called to a crisis incident at 3:15 p.m. on a
Friday. It is in a residential area about three blocks from a middle school and
a public library. The information you have at this time is that the subject is
a 42-year-old male who is holed up in his house with his wife, son, and a family friend. He has
murdered his next-door neighbor and is threatening to kill those in the house
if his demands are not met. One of his demands is for immunity from the murder
charge if he surrenders
without harming any of the people in the house. His other demands are a case of
beer and some fast food. He wants his demands met or “something will
happen.” Your paper must address the following topics: Explain the type of
incident, which category this hostage-taker
falls into, and what your optimal role is in the situation. Include in your
paper statistical information around the likelihood of a successful hostage
negotiation given the information provided and the length of time that the
situation persists. For example,
after a one hour standoff, what is the likelihood (in percentages) that the
negotiation will end successfully? After four hours? After eight hours? How
does the likelihood of a successful negotiation change over the course of time?
Based on your knowledge,
develop a plan and a course of action for interacting with this person and
resolving this situation. What precautions will you and the department take?
What tertiary problems do you foresee in the case of a prolonged standoff and
how would you address them?
What sources would you use to gather information about the perpetrator? What
specific information would you want to have? Support your plan with the data
and statistics of the likelihood (percentages) of a successful hostage
negotiation. Even though you have
only minimal information (which is the reality in most crisis situations),
identify a probable hypothesis about the perpetrator’s mental state, symptom
presentation, and the likely outcome of the incident. To be better prepared in
the case of another crisis
situation, analyze the roles a police psychologist should play in preparation
for crisis incidents and how it would benefit the department. Identify what
needs to occur before the psychologist can become an integral part of the hostage
negotiation team that’s