The Hostage Negotiation Team of the Morristown Police Department was established in early 1995.  The purpose of the unit is to supply highly trained professional negotiators during a critical incident, such as a barricaded suspect or a hostage taking.
 
The unit is made up of six highly trained men and women from both the Patrol and Investigations divisions or the department.  The Support Services Supervisor heads the unit as the coordinator.

Members of the team are required to attend several hours of training on negotiation techniques prior to becoming active members of the team.  Training is also conducted by the Team Leader to keep members up to date and in practice in this sensitive area of expertise.  The unit also cross trains with members of the Special Response Team.

Team members remain on call at all times.  When a crisis does occur, an on shift supervisor will activate at least two members.  These members will go to the crisis command post, where negotiations will begin.  In incidents past, negotiators have remained on location for several hours until a peaceful solution was acquired.

The Negotiations Team has proven to be an effective tool during crisis intervention.  The unit received high marks during a mock disaster drill where officers were scored on their negotiating ability.  The team has been deployed in crisis situations and, through their ability, the incidents have been successfully defused.  The overall goal of the Hostage Negotiations Unit is to resolve barricaded suspect and hostage situations without injury to officers, victims or suspects.
 
Though the training hours seem endless, and the practice scenarios come one right after another, the lives that may be saved by one successful negotiation justify the existence of the unit.