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3 J. Police Crisis Negot. 1 (2003)

handle is hein.journals/wpcn3 and id is 1 raw text is: EDITORIAL Are there areas in which we, as negotiators, should actively be doing research? Do we get too complacent at times with our skills, and begin to believe that what we know today is enough to handle whatever comes our way tomorrow? It can happen. And, if it does, we may not be ready for what is ahead. Complacency will kill us, our hostages, and maybe even our ability to be as effective as we might. Dr. Edward S. Rosenbluh, a pioneer in the field of Crisis Intervention, once said that, In order to be helpful, we must remain effective. The application seems obvious here. Along these same lines of thought, in this issue, Dr. McMains returns a training column that is focused on one of the areas about which we should know more. In this month's Training, he discusses negotiating with the suicide, or maybe homi- cide would be a better word, bomber, and what we need to know to be effective. The points he makes lead this author to wonder about the adequacy of current training programs. Further, how much of the current training attends to these new threats, and takes into account current research. It seems obvious that more re- search is needed. Short of that, training of hostage and crisis negotiators must in- clude such knowledge. Negotiators must be educated rather than merely trained to perform this vital function. Dr. Mount, in his column Up Close and Personal, addresses another similar area. While there is some research on school violence, we must know more. We must train more. We must refine our skills. The days of taking a shotgun ap- proach to negotiations are over and we must act accordingly. In a related article, researchers in the area of suicide may have found a differ- ence in voice pitch for those who are about to do self-harm. Apparently, the pitch in suicidal individuals is different from those who are depressed but not acutely Journal of Police Crisis Negotiations, Vol. 3(1) 2003 http://www.haworthpress.com/store/product.asp?sku=J173 @ 2003 by The Haworth Press, Inc. All rights reserved. 10.1300/J173v03nO1 01 1