The mission of the Hostage Negotiation Team (H.N.T.) is to preserve life during critical incidents by resolving conflict without the use of force.
This team initiates a constructive verbal dialog with suicidal persons, barricaded criminal suspects, and criminal suspects in hostage situations. The goal of the H.N.T. is to use special crisis intervention skills to affect a non-violent resolution
H.N.T. unit members are assigned to other full-time duties within the Sheriff’s Department and perform their H.N.T. duties in addition to their regular assignments.
Members assigned to H.N.T. duties must meet a demanding selection criteria, attend numerous training schools and are required to attend frequent team training sessions. Additionally, team members must have a technical skill in a variety of communications equipment and must maintain proficiency with the equipment.
H.N.T. is on-call 24 hours a day, all year around. The team is another tool for law enforcement to peacefully resolve potentially dangerous and sometimes deadly situations without injury or death.