Learning to Dance
Kidnap and hostage-taking is a dilemma.
Were you being watched as you drove to work this morning?
Is your family safe as you drive home tonight - or could there be a 'reception committee' waiting for you? How would you find out?
If you have the keys to anything that is valuable then be aware that the growth of kidnap and hostage taking across the World is because criminals know how easily they can force you to do as they want.
Do armed robbers need to put on their balaclavas and run across the pavement into the bank with their shotguns - when they believe that they can get their money with far fewer risks than that?
Let's be candid, if criminals are holding your partner or your children, you are likely to do everything they ask. Would you exchange your family's safety for a set of keys? Most people would.
Give them what they want and the criminals 'promise' to release the hostages who may be able to provide damning evidence against them. Can you be certain that they will?
Don't give them what they want and ......!
In simple terms it is far better never to put yourself in that position - prevention is always better than cure.
It would help you to know how the criminals operate and, therefore, how you can foil their plans.
And if the worst does happen to you or yours how would you all survive, cope and seek help safely?
There are no guarantees, but there are choices.
Red Centre (UK) Associates is a team of time-served Senior British Police Detectives who all led their own Force Hostage and Crisis Negotiation Units for many years. These were the people who had the job of getting hostages home safely - a job they did many times even when knowing the risks, dangers and how to take advantage of circumstances, including luck when it arises.
Now, having completed their Police service, they have formed Red Centre (UK) Associates so they can pass on their unrivalled experience in dealing with kidnaps and hostage-taking to those who need it most.
Red Centre (UK) Associates say;
"We were deployed to life at risk and hostage situations on many occasions. We were to work alongside good people who had never experienced such a threat before: it is no surprise that they were not prepared for the trauma of what we had to deal with together.
When life is at risk incompetence, panic and uncertainty are not required, yet we saw at least one of these, and often all three, when we arrived.
We could not train people in what to expect, nor how to deal with the situation, when the next demand call was due in five minutes time.
We were in the business of reducing threat and saving life.
We always wished that the people involved in or managing the crisis had been trained to understand what would happen, what was required and how we could win.
It was a wish they all came to share."
The Senior Consultants from Red Centre (UK) Associates were sent to Greece by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in 2002-2003 to train the Hellenic Police Hostage Negotiators in preparation for the last Olympic Games in Athens 2004.
The same core of trainers has recently returned from Sierra Leone where they established, trained and developed the first Hostage and Crisis Negotiation team in the sub-Sahara region of West Africa .
Red Centre (UK) Associates have collectively over recent years;
- Delivered hostage related training programmes to both government and non-government groups in the United Kingdom, Greece, Columbia, Mexico and Sierra Leone
- Trained Senior Police Officers on kidnap and hostage negotiation techniques at the National Specialist Law Enforcement Centre
- Deployed as primary negotiators on counter terrorist exercises with the UK Special Forces in England and also in Greece
- Worked as the primary negotiators with hijacked aircraft at Stansted Airport and on national security exercises at Heathrow, Manchester and Athens International Airports
- Provided training and assessment of students for many years on the National Hostage Negotiator Course at Hendon, London
- Deployed covertly to kidnap scenarios, led negotiations and contributed to the safe rescue and release of hostages
We think you can safely rely on that sort of pedigree.
But just imagine that you do become a victim, or one of your family or colleagues is taken hostage, to force you to hand over something of value. Imagine the pressure that you will be under - and consider how you have already trained, or not, for such an eventuality.
- Who would you tell?
- What advice do they have for you?
- Is an inside agent involved?
- How would you establish proof of life?
- How would you safely stall for time?
- If you were taken hostage how would you survive?
- How would you cope with the physical and psychological pressures?
- Are you satisfied that you are as well prepared as you might be?
Whatever the scenario, when the real hostage negotiator is sitting next to you it is too late to start asking all the questions you want answers to. The telephone is about to ring.....
Personal safety is our primary objective. We provide practical training for you alongside the people who have been there many times before who:
- can direct you to the answers,
- prepare you for what is about to happen and
- increase your chances of getting those being held home safely.
There is no substitute for experience, whether you are listening to a career detective, hostage negotiation specialist or a former hostage.
A member of the cabin crew recently giving the pre-flight safety advice over the aircraft tannoy system, to which no one was paying attention, summarised the way you should heed this advice by saying, “ We would rather you had the information and didn’t need it, than need the information and not have it!”
The training programmes provided by Red Centre (UK) Associates are pressurised, uncomfortable, realistic and demanding. They are as close to the real thing as you can get without facing the danger. Why fear the unknown when we can introduce you to it safely? Why make it easy for the criminal?
Two final questions:
- Why should any organisation invest in kidnap training?
Well, learning how to survive the ordeal can mitigate against psychological damage and resulting impact on your employees, and an awareness of the processes can minimise both the trauma and the financial loss through shared engagement with law enforcement agencies.
- Is hostage taking becoming more prevalent?
The short answer is "yes".
Home Office statistics show that in 1992 a total of 929 kidnaps were recorded in England and Wales . In 2003, however, that number had risen to 3,125 as illustrated by the graph.
So let's rewind to the beginning.
Are you on someone's agenda? Are you a potential target?
Could you be the next victim we are talking about?
It's time for us to get in step together....the music may be about to start.