Crisis and Hostage Negotiation Training

Learning Outcomes

• Apply negotiation principles and communication techniques to de-escalate crisis situations.
• Analyze the psychological dynamics of hostage-takers and victims to inform negotiation strategies.
• Evaluate risk factors and legal constraints in crisis and hostage scenarios.
• Design a structured negotiation plan including roles, communication protocols, and contingency measures.
• Implement de-escalation tactics and tactical communication to manage volatile interactions.
• Demonstrate the ability to coordinate with multi-agency response teams during a crisis.

Target Audience

Security personnel, law enforcement officers, private investigators, corporate security managers, and emergency response team members who may be called upon to handle crisis or hostage incidents.

Prerequisites

None — open enrollment

Course Outline

Practicals

Overview

Hands-on practicals are essential for developing negotiation skills. Learners engage in role-playing scenarios, tabletop exercises, and full-scale simulations to apply communication techniques, crisis intervention strategies, and team coordination in realistic settings.

Practical Activities

• Basic Communication Role-Play — Learners pair up to practice active listening, questioning, and de-escalation in simulated crisis phone calls. (4h)
• Negotiation Strategy Tabletop — Teams develop and present negotiation plans for given scenarios, including risk assessment and contingency planning. (4h)
• Advanced Scenario Simulation — Full-scale simulation with actors playing hostage-taker, victims, and command, requiring real-time negotiation and team coordination. (4h)
• Complex Multi-Subject Exercise — Simulation involving multiple subjects (e.g., barricaded with mental illness and hostage), requiring advanced techniques and cultural sensitivity. (4h)

Summatives

Each delegate is assessed continuously throughout the course via daily exercises, scored practical assignments, and a final summative test at the end.

Practical Assignments — 30%

Practical assignments are observed and scored against a rubric during the practical sessions. Each delegate's practical mark is averaged into a single 100% score and contributes 30% to the final total.

Daily Exercises — 20%

Every training day ends with a multiple-choice exercise scored out of 100%. The scores from each daily exercise are averaged across the duration of the course to produce a Daily Average mark, which contributes 20% to the final total.

Final Test — 50%

On the last day a final summative test is written. It is a multiple-choice paper with multiple-answer questions: each question may have more than one correct option, and a single wrong selection on a question marks the entire question wrong — no partial credit. The final test is scored out of 100% and contributes 50% to the overall mark.

Final Total

Component	Out of	Weight
Practical Assignments (rubric-scored)	100%	30%
Daily Average (multiple choice)	100%	20%
Final Test (multi-answer multiple choice)	100%	50%
Final Total	—	100%

All marks are recorded on the AATICD LMS and visible to each learner under their account.

Certificate

How it works

• Certificates are auto-generated on the AATICD LMS as soon as the marks pass the 50% threshold.
• Each certificate is a branded PDF with the delegate's name, the course title, the unit standard ID, NQF level, credits, and the date of issue.
• You can download or print your certificate from your LMS dashboard at any time after issue — there's no reissue fee and no expiry date.
• If you scored under 50% you can sit the final test again at the next scheduled session at no extra cost.

Where to find it

Sign in to the LMS, open your dashboard, and your certificates appear under My Certificates. Each entry has a View / Download button and a print option.

Training Discounts

Group discounts apply automatically — the more delegates you enrol, the greater the saving. Discounts are calculated at 3% per 5 delegates, scaling up to 40% off for 100+ delegates.

Delegates	Discount
5	3% off
10	6% off
15	9% off
20	12% off
25	15% off
30	18% off
50	30% off
75	35% off
100	40% off

3% discount per 5 delegates, up to 40% off for 100+ delegates. Contact us for a custom group quote.