Terrorism Scenario Research Paper Sample

In this scenario, I am the law enforcement scene commander at a convenience store robbery where the robbers have taken the customers and clerk hostage. A local television station is broadcasting the event live through a telephoto lens, and the robbers are watching the coverage on a television inside the store. This is an incredibly difficult situation with a great deal of complexity; my actions would have to be very carefully considered and examined. As the scene commander, it is up to me to make the major decisions that are necessary in order to prevent the hostage-takers from achieving their goals while still saving the lives of the hostages.
One possible scenario is to ask the station to stop broadcasting; I cannot force the station to stop broadcasting, because of the First Amendment right to freedom of press, but it may be possible to ask the station to comply with our request. Ideally, they would comply in the interest of keeping them off the air, but if they did not, I would have no choice but to work around the press coverage while ensuring they keep a wide berth to stay out of danger. News media can have both good and bad effects on the outcome of police activities during a hostage situation, so great care would have to be taken in order to ensure that they helped the situation rather than hurt it.
Another possibility would be to use the live television coverage to our advantage, using that to gather tactical data about numbers, disposition, armament and location of the hostage takers. This would allow us to be able to possibly have a better vantage point on the situation and use force to overtake the robbers and rescue the hostages. However, if we did not have the cooperation of the station, this would be a somewhat more complicated issue. Another contingency we would have to plan for is the possibility of the hostage-takers using the media to negotiate, which would ideally not be allowed to happen. Hostage-takers know that they have the media on their side in order to prevent a bloodbath, as the cameras and live television feed give them the opportunity to speak to a wide audience. This is particularly useful for those with ideological points they want to use their violence to make, such as terrorists.
Allowing them to negotiate with the media would have several conflicting consequences; while it would buy time and perhaps save the lives of the hostages, it would also make law enforcement appear weak and ineffectual for allowing it to happen. It would also lend legitimacy and credence to the hostage-takers by giving them airtime. This may not necessarily be a bad thing, as offering airtime might also simply allow the hostage-takers to say their piece and withdraw from the situation; if all they want is to get the message out to the public, it might help save lives to allow them to do that with minimal damage (Faure, 2003).
There are other issues with using the media as a go-between with law enforcement and the hostage-takers. For instance, it is possible that media personnel, who would not have the same training and experience with hostage-takers and hostage negotiation as law enforcement, would mis-communicate demands out of lack of understanding, use tones and language that would agitate the hostage-takers, or (in the rarest, most unethical of possible scenarios) be tempted to incite violence in order to get sensational footage of the event. Using the media would take a lot of control out of the hands of law enforcement, which would not be an ideal scenario. Media interference in a hostage situation would be extremely problematic, and so that situation should be avoided if at all possible. If I were in this position, I would likely not permit the hostage-takers to negotiate through the media to law enforcement, allotting a hostage negotiator to the task instead. If possible, I would assign a liaison officer to the media in order to keep constant communication between the media, law enforcement and the hostage-takers, in order to ensure that the public perception of the events unfolding was clear, balanced and in support of the hostages and law enforcement.
In the event of this hypothetical hostage situation, I would take great care to deal with the news media while also keeping my focus on the hostages and hostage-takers. If at all possible, I would recruit the help of the media in safe, secure ways that I could be reasonably sure would result in the successful release of the hostages. At the same time, it is also my duty to protect the lives of people on the street and even the members of the press, so I will be sure to keep them out of harm’s way and away from the situation as much as I possibly can. Given the delicate nature of hostage negotiations, how the media is used and related to is incredibly important; after the welfare of the hostages, it would be my most important concern.

Works Cited

Call, John A. "Negotiating crises: The evolution of hostage/barricade crisis negotiation." Journal
of Threat Assessment 2.3 (2003): 69-94.
Faure, Guy Olivier. "Negotiating with terrorists: The hostage case." International
Negotiation 8.3 (2003): 469-494.
Hancerli, Suleyman. Negotiation, communication, and decision strategies used by hostage/crisis
negotiators. ProQuest, 2008.