APATAP 2019 Annual Conference

In this keynote presentation, the speaker will share key insights on the difficult and demanding work of hostage and crisis negotiators and highlight, in particular, the work of the Hong Kong Police Crisis Negotiation Unit, who work tirelessly to live up to their unit motto “Who Cares Wins” to resolve high threat and high risk incidents peacefully and without loss of life through negotiation.

A very densely populated urban environment like Hong Kong brings with it many stressors and demands and it is no surprise that police negotiators are kept busy responding to suicide threats, barricaded situations and hostage incidents. Whilst many law enforcement agencies, with the help and support from the community, now carefully examine any on-line threats in the hope of pre-empting the next active shooter or attack, much of the work of crisis negotiators takes place offline and with real people, often in extreme circumstances, who need to be handled with care and compassion if the situation is to be resolved peacefully.