The Fight Against Crime: Notes From the Battlefront

Recently, a 35-year-old man distraught over marital problems wounded his estranged wife in Santa Clarita and barricaded himself in her house with their 3-year-old son, where a Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department SWAT team found them dead--victims of a murder-suicide.

It was one of 140 cases last year in which Sgt. Barry Perrou, a coordinator for the sheriff’s Hostage Negotiations Team, joined up with SWAT teams summoned to sites throughout the county by police officers or deputies facing barricade and hostage situations.

The hostage teams’ principal goal is to save lives, not only of the innocent--but also the hostage-taker’s.

“We have a responsibility to everyone--including the suspect,” Perrou said. “As much as we want to see him punished, we are not the punishment component.”

The hostages often include people who witnessed the crime or family members being held against their will.

Deploying a SWAT team is the last resort for authorities, Perrou said. Ideally, the officers will work out the situation by flushing out the suspect without anyone getting hurt, and making an arrest.

Calling in the SWAT team is like a declaration of war. “Now, that means you have to engage and confront the person inside,” Perrou said.

The size of the SWAT team depends on the size of the area authorities want to secure. They arrive shielded by bullet-proof vests and armed with equipment ranging from high-powered rifles to telephones and recording devices.

The negotiators then focus on the suspect and keeping the hostages alive.

“The best equipment we have is compassion,” Perrou said.

Making telephone contact if they can, negotiators begin talking. At first they are trying to evaluate the suspect, determining if he is suicidal or violent, giving them an idea of how much time they have to work with.

If the person is suicidal or presents an immediate danger to a hostage, the team will probably take immediate action to try to prevent possible loss of life and make an arrest. But a calm suspect provides the team with a crucial important weapon: time.

“We’re not going anywhere. [The suspect] is not going anywhere,” Perrou said. “The suspect probably doesn’t want to die but hasn’t figured out he’s not getting away.”

So negotiators use “good-faith” communication to try to persuade the suspect to give up.

If a suspect asks how much prison time he can expect for the crimes committed up to that point, negotiators will truthfully provide him with an accurate estimate, Perrou said.

“They may be crooks but they haven’t lost their ability to reason,” Perrou said.

With the clock ticking, negotiators attempt to lead suspects to evaluate accurately their own situation: Do I want to die? Is the situation really as bad as it seems? Do I have other felonies? Can I make it out?

Time also allows the effects of drugs or alcohol--if the suspect is under the influence--to wear off.

The department has encountered cases in which suspects have surrendered after thinking about loved ones--even pets--or commitments they should fulfill or other aspects of life they would leave behind if they died in a gun battle, Perrou said.

“We’ll tell them, ‘Whatever you’ve done, [your kids] will still love you as their dad,’ ” Perrou said.

Usually the strategy works, he said. But all too often--as in the Santa Clarita tragedy--it does not.