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Media Relations Office:
ADC Employees Complete FBI Crisis Negotiator Training
When the Lewis prison standoff started, the Arizona Department of Corrections scrambled to find employees who had experience as crisis negotiators. At the time, the only known team of ADC crisis negotiators was at Perryville. Incident Command was not aware of an existing team at the Tucson complex who had trained and gained experience through the years working with the City of Tucson Police Department. Not knowing what resources were available to them, Lewis Incident Command was forced to rely on federal, state, city and county crisis negotiators for help. That was the Arizona Department of Corrections in 2004. In 2006, ADC has new crisis negotiation policies and procedures in place and skilled crisis negotiation teams at every complex that completed Federal Bureau of Investigations training. “We are stronger and more organized than we were two years ago. Our crisis negotiation program is handled in such a fashion that each warden knows who they have assigned as a negotiator at their facility and what kind of negotiation skills they possess,” Emergency Preparedness Administrator Ernest Trujillo said. “Our goal as an agency is to be prepared to handle critical incidents on our own as much as possible. This is now possible due the development of a structured crisis negotiations program within ADC.” On January 13, ADC took another step toward self-sufficiency. Forty-seven ADC corrections professionals, consisting of staff members from a variety of areas throughout ADC, earned certificates in FBI Basic Crisis Negotiation Training. During the 40-hour training, taught at the Correctional Officer Training Academy in Tucson, FBI agents debriefed ADC staff members, from an FBI perspective, on the Lewis incident; lectured on crisis negotiation strategies, techniques and skills; conducted active listening exercises and developed prison crisis negotiation scenarios for ADC staff. “The training taught me to be a better listener and deescalate and diffuse issues before they turn into a crisis. I can use this skill everyday at work,” ASPC-Perryville Correctional Officer III Karen Abbott said. “It gave me a different perspective on how to listen to inmates. It showed me how to focus and pull things out of conversations I normally wouldn’t catch. I’m grateful for the opportunity, and I hope to share what I learned with my coworkers.” Prior to the FBI training, select employees underwent a stringent testing and selection process similar to the model used in the law enforcement community. Candidates participated in ADC’s own weeklong, preparatory crisis negotiation training at COTA. The training introduced the future negotiators to the Critical Incident Response Team process and negotiation basics. “I respect the level of dedication shown by our Crisis Negotiators. The amount of training they are required to undergo and maintain, coupled with flexibility for being available after work hours requires a high degree of commitment,” Trujillo said. “If you talk to anybody who has been through the selection process and the training, it was a little painful. We stretched them a bit.” Negotiators are expected to continue monthly training, and they will train when the Tactical Support Unit trains. The agency plans on integrating negotiation strategies and tactics into more of its security operations. This will allow negotiators to keep their skills sharp and provide a resource for on the spot crisis intervention within the prison complexes. The training is one of Governor Janet Napolitano’s Blue Ribbon Panel recommendations, which states, “ADC, State and local law enforcement agencies should regularly convene to practice negotiations.” ADC has become a leader in the crisis negotiations community by hosting and presenting two statewide Law Enforcement Crisis Negotiations quarterly training sessions. The most recent was held at COTA in October 2005, and more than 140 negotiators from around the state were in attendance. The ADC Emergency Preparedness Administrator coordinates the crisis negotiation program. The EPA is responsible for developing a coordinated and uniform system of readiness and emergency response throughout ADC. Photo
Gallery of Certified ADC Crisis Negotiators
ASPC-Perryville |
