#hostage negotiation

[trivalentlinks]

My friend occasionally volunteers as a teacher's assistant in a small midwestern town, and in a sixth grade (11 year olds) class she was volunteering with, they did a career day, where they asked parents to come in and tell the class about their careers.

One parent they brought in was a hostage negotiator for (adult) US citizens kidnapped abroad, mostly in Latin America

Apparently, the US government has a list of entities that US citizens are not allowed to make payments to, including pretty much all foreign hostage takers, so when an American is taken hostage abroad, their family has to pay ransom through a foreign entity

They usually hire a hostage negotiator to talk to the kidnappers and arrange the ransom payments through the foreign entities, etc

So anyway this guy's talking about his job, the way different hostage-taking entities tend to demand different numbers of cash drops (somewhere between 4 and 10 usually), but a good hostage negotiator knows what to expect, since they've dealt with those entities before, and how to tell when things are going normally vs when something is going wrong, and how to respond when things feel weird, etc

At some point, to check if the kids are following, the guy asks

"so if someone you love has been kidnapped, what would you do?"

But the kids were apparently not following, because the only kid who raises her hand goes,

"call the police?"

And this guy's just standing there gobsmacked, and after a moment where nobody else has any better ideas, he's like,

"... okay, but what if the police are the ones who kidnapped your loved one?"

... the kids had a lot of trouble wrapping their heads around that one

Also, at some point, the guy played an audio file of a typical hostage negotiation, which started with an (adult) victim's mom on the phone with the kidnapper. the mom's crying, and the kidnapper chides her for being overly emotional and tells her she needs to have someone else speak for her if she can't calm down

then the negotiator handles the rest of the interactions, multiple cash drops, each for less money than the previous, with the kidnapper saying each time that this was definitely the last one and then they would let the victim go (this is par for the course, apparently)

The kids were fascinated, but the teacher (who was also a mom) said afterwards that she was never inviting a hostage negotiator for career day again

#hostage negotiation #tw: kidnapping #hostage situations #i recently re-read the part of my longfic where eliot and quinn do a job 'negotiating' a hostage release #and uh. yeah. no part of that plan would have worked

[sylvanfreckles]

no.20: It's Been A Long Fucking Day

Fandom: Critical Role, Campaign 3 Rating: T (for Ashton's fucking mouth) Warning: Mild spoiler for C3E37: From the Boughs Summary: The good news: Dorian's back! The bad news: he's been kidnapped. The worse news: Ashton's the hostage negotiator ...I'm sure they have things under control. (Read on AO3)

(The spoiler is fairly minor, but it's in the second line of the story, so it's right under the cut)

...

Ashton rolled their shoulders, cracked their neck, tightened their hold on the Crimson Marauder’s shirt. “We got eyes yet?” he muttered.

Orym, holding the Marauder’s belt on the other side, barely tilted his head as he looked around the alley. “Balcony on the north side. Pâté, uh, isn’t blending in very well.”

“Hopefully he won’t have to.” Ashton nudged their prisoner forward. “Let’s go.”

Fearne, in rat form, perched on Orym’s shoulder and squeaked at their prisoner. Ashton couldn’t tell what she was saying but, considering she hadn’t had very kind words for any of the Crimson Marauders, he could imagine it pretty clearly.

They hadn’t even heard of the Marauders until three days ago, when one of them showed up at the Spire by Fire with a ransom note. That hadn’t gone well for the man, and within half an hour the Hells were sending their own ransom note, proposing a prisoner exchange.

From the other end of the alley, three humanoids approached with a fourth held between them. The prisoner had a hood thrown over their head, but there was no mistaking his posture and stride, even after all this time.

“That’s far enough!” the lead Marauder held a hand up.

Ashton hauled on their prisoner’s shoulder to hold him back. “Ready to do this, or what?” they called.

“First we should discuss our terms.”

“Fuck you.” Ashton flipped them off. “It’s been a long fucking day, let’s just get this over with.”

The Marauder hesitated. “W-we require an addition forty platinum—”

“Not gonna happen.”

“You’re—this isn’t how this works?”

“Look,” Orym stepped in, ever the voice of reason. “It took us less time to take him down than to break the seal on your letter. We’re doing you a favor here.”

The Marauders sputtered, exchanging glances. Ashton nudged their prisoner. “Tell ‘em.”

“He’s right, Trevor,” the man yelped. “You don’t want to mess with these guys.”

“Don’t tell them my name,” Trevor whined. He tried to pull himself together, then tugged his prisoner forward. “All right, you send Bryce over to us, and we’ll release your friend.”

“Not how this works,” Ashton replied.

“Take off the hood,” Orym added.

The Marauders murmured to each other for a few more minutes, then reluctantly pulled the dark hood off their prisoner’s head, revealing dark hair that faded to white and familiar light blue skin.

Dorian blinked in the sudden light for a moment, before his eyes adjusted. “Oh…hi, Ashton,” he called sheepishly, bringing his bound hands up to wave. “And Orym’s here!” he added, sounding much cheerier.

Ashton rolled their eyes. “Never mind, you can keep him,” they called over, making a show of turning around to pull Bryce the other way. The various shouts of protest, from the Crimson Marauders as well as the Bell’s Hells, brought a grin to their face. “Fine, fine. But now you owe us,” they added, pointing at the Marauders.

“That’s…” Trevor stammered, looking at his companions. “That’s not how this works?”

“Bullshit. You tried to do the same thing to us.”

“Because we kidnapped your friend?”

“And we kidnapped yours!” Ashton grabbed Bryce’s shoulder and shook him back and forth a few times. “He’s right here, see?”

The Marauders muttered to themselves a little longer, and Ashton leaned over to Orym. “Picking up anything?”

“Pretty sure they didn’t bring any money.”

“Oh, for fuck’s sake. Fine!” Ashton raised their voice, getting the Marauders’ attention. Trade ‘em at the same time.”

“R-right,” Trevor pulled himself together and pushed Dorian forward, still keeping a grip on his shoulder. “Ready?”

“Go for it.” Ashton gave their prisoner a shove and he trudged back to his friends, keeping his head down as he passed Dorian. Ashton took a long step forward and snagged Dorian’s arm, dragging him into relative safety between them and Orym.

Then they got a good look at the bard. “Did you fucking strangle him?” they shouted, irritation flaring. The notice had said no harm would come to Dorian, but there was a clear ring of bruises around his neck.

“We just wanted him to be quiet,” one of the Marauders stammered. Bryce had reached them, and the four of them were huddled together as though they expected the Bell’s Hells to unleash an ambush on them at any given moment.

“He’s an air genasi, he doesn’t need to breathe, dumbass!”

“Ashton,” Dorian gently caught their arm with his fingers, his hands still bound. “Let’s just go, okay?”

Fuck, those ropes looked tight. Dorian’s wrists were torn and bloody, and the corners of his mouth were bruised where someone had tied a gag on far too tight. “I’m okay,” he added, noticing Ashton’s tightened expression.

“Ash,” Orym caught their wrist. “Let’s just go.”

Ashton easily shook him off. “I’ll be right back.”

Something dark and fuzzy leapt off Orym’s shoulder, and Fearne sprouted up into her natural form, striding right next to Ashton. “Give us a minute, guys.”

Somewhere close by, there was a tang of blood on the air as Chetney, still invisible, dragged a chisel across his chest.

Orym shook his head and tugged Dorian over to the side of the alley, letting the genasi sit before he started cutting at the ropes with his dagger. “I’m glad you’re back,” he said as the ropes finally parted.

Dorian rubbed at his wrists, his sleeves sliding back to reveal more bruising on his forearms. “It’s good to be back. Should we help them?”

There was a rising scream, and one of the Crimson Marauders flew past them to crash into a pile of crates at one end of the alley.

“Never mind,” Dorian let out a breathy laugh, patting the ground beside him for Orym to sit. “I think they’ve got it handled.”

Something exploded, and Pâté’s voice rose to an excited pitch as the scent of ozone filled the air.

Orym sat next to Dorian, shoulder-to-elbow, leaning companionably against his friend. “Yeah, we can let them have this one.”

...

Oh, that was so stupid but so much fun to write! I still miss Dorian, guys!

#whumptober2022 #no.20 #it's been a long day #critical role #fic #ashton greymoore #dorian storm #orym #fearne calloway #kidnapping #hostage negotiation #spoilers for c3e37 #critical role spoilers #cr spoilers #campaign 3 #cr3 #cr3 spoilers #mama bear fearne calloway #ashton would like to rage

[dogglefoxkvk]

My door dasher threatened me today

#hostage negotiation

[odinsblog]

Just so we are all really clear: Republicans are using the manufactured debt ceiling “crisis” as a bargaining chip, threatening to blow up the U.S. (and world?) economy unless Biden caves in to cutting things like food benefits for women, children, the poor and the working poor. Got it? That’s their deal—either eviscerate the social safety net, or economy go boom!

No doubt, a lot of liberals are pressuring Biden to acquiesce, because 1) the economy will absolutely positively go boom! and 2) because they will blame Biden if the economy crashes

BUT..! Here’s the thing: If Biden does cave in and give Republicans even a little bit of what they are demanding, I fuckn promise you that in October and November of next year, Republican ads are going to be like: “Vote for Trump! Remember how Biden cut food benefits for women and children? Trump won’t do that”

And it will not matter how many 8k high quality videos you have showing that it was really Republicans who took the economy hostage and demanded those cuts. By time the general election rolls around in ‘24, Republicans will be airing ChatGPT AI political ads where it looks like Biden was the one asking for all the cuts to SNAP and demanding ridiculously harder work requirements

Believe that!!

Did you even see those ignorant charlatans eating from Trump’s hands on CNN?? These are bomb throwers. They enjoy blowing up the economy, especially when it hurts poor people! You cannot in good faith make any policy decision about what to do based off of what Republican voters “might think” when it’s election time! They don’t “think” AT ALL, and even if they did, they still do not care! They’re unscrupulous deplorables. They will always always always find a way to blame Biden and the Democrats, no matter what, so Biden may as well go on and do what’s right while he can, and try actually fighting against these cartoonishly evil Republicans

AND..! Do I even need to remind anyone what happens when you cave in to bullies?? If Biden caves now, then Republicans will bully every Democrat from here on out, and the programs they take hostage next time will be Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid

Caving in to the whims of Kevin pickme! McCarthy and Marjorie Traitor Greene is bad politics, and it will only get worse in the future if Biden folds now

#politics #kevin mccarthy #joe biden #republicans #debt ceiling #bullies #odin rants #hostage negotiations 101 #debt crisis #national debt #manufactured crisis #bullying

[sm-baby]

POV: You messed with the wrong mentor

My tablet decided to work okay today so I grace you with concept art of a scrapped episode idea :3

#Minecraft #mineblr #hehe silly show in my head... #I can just hear Player's cool lil 'Don't make this harder than it needs to be.' #Erma and Law gotta put on their hostage negotiator skills. #EXCEPT THEY'RE THE ONES IN TROUBLE LMAO #art #erma #witch friend #pillager general #minecraft witch #minecraft pillager #Yeah you can see why illagers just straight up blacklist her as a person to be fucked with #cuz she WILL cover you in traps literally over night if threatened enough

[girlactionfigure]

Mossad Spy Agency Releases Rare Statement Via The Prime Minister's Office: 

”The negotiating delegation of the Mossad, the Shin Bet and the IDF will return this afternoon from Cairo, at the end of another intensive round of talks.”

”As part of the talks, with the helpful mediation of Egypt, the mediators formulated an up-to-date proposal for addressing Hamas.”

”Israel expects the mediators to work harder with Hamas to promote negotiations in favor of a deal.”

”The State of Israel continues to make all the necessary efforts to release the abductees from the hands of Hamas and return them to Israel.”

#Israel #October 7 Massacre #Gaza #Hamas #Egypt #Hostage negotiations #BringThemHomeNow

[runawaymarbles]

the confidence with which americans say things like "the ceasefire is this week because of a media conspiracy involving thanksgiving" and "you can support the civilians of gaza by boycotting mcdonalds" is really amazing tbh

#do yall really genuinely believe that your eyeballs are so important #that both hamas and netanyahu were considering whether or not you'd be watching more or less tv than normal this week #when negotiating for the release of hostages/pause in bombings #israel and palestine cw #op

[that-bitch-kat3]

ohio: violence is never the answer!

alex: really? never?

morgan: yeah what if the question is: what is an 8 letter word for distruction?

alex: or what if someone’s being really annoying?

#s and d tier #alex and morgan #alex x morgan #morgan sterling #morgan x alex #ohio james #dude idk #this is for the current hostage negotiation #and i don’t even know if this counts

[the-garbanzo-annex-jr]

Hamas Blows Up Hostage/Ceasefire Talks With New Demands, NYT and Others Report

The Biden admiration’s hopes of a Gaza ceasefire before the beginning of Ramadan this weekend appear to have been dashed as terrorist group Hamas continues to make new demands, The New York Times reported Wednesday.

The NYT article discloses that “in recent days, Hamas has backed away from the proposed agreement and made demands that Israel refuses to meet.” The terror group’s demands include freeing more terrorists from Israeli prisons, a permanent truce, and the complete withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza.

Jerusalem had agreed to a temporary ceasefire and the release of hundreds of convicted terrorists in exchange for captive Israeli women, elderly, and children, but Hamas issued fresh demands, Israeli media reports suggest. “Israeli officials reportedly believed the first phase was agreed upon, for a temporary ceasefire along with the return of 40 hostages for the release of hundreds of Palestinian security prisoners, but the terrorist organization Hamas suddenly increased its demands,” the Israeli TV channel i24NEWS reported.

Hamas’s demands keep rising while the terrorist group refuses to provide the names of the hostages who are still alive after five months of captivity. Estimated 134 Israeli hostages, including women and children, are believed to be in Gaza, many of them being subjected to repeated rape and torture, a recently released United Nations report shows.

The New York Times reported:

Talks between Israel and Hamas over the release of dozens of Israeli hostages held in Gaza have stalled, dimming hopes that a deal could be reached before Ramadan begins in a few days, according to several people briefed on the conversations. Negotiators had been discussing a proposal for an initial six-week cease-fire during which Hamas would release about 40 people — including women, elderly and ill hostages, and five female Israeli soldiers — for a substantial number of Palestinian prisoners. The discussions included terms for releasing at least 15 prisoners convicted of serious acts of terrorism who would be exchanged for the female soldiers. The terms also said Israel would release hundreds of other detainees or prisoners, at an average of 10 Palestinians for every Israeli civilian freed, officials said. American officials had said that they hoped to reach an agreement to release some hostages and put in place a temporary pause in fighting before Ramadan, which is expected to start this Sunday. President Biden expressed confidence last week that a deal was within reach. But in recent days, Hamas has backed away from the proposed agreement and made demands that Israel refuses to meet, according to officials briefed on the talks. The negotiations had been taking place in Doha, Qatar, before they moved to Cairo in recent days. (…)

#hamas #gaza #ceasefire #hostages #negotiations

[boffix]

*Steals Bug Man Cutley*

No COCK no Big Man!! AHAHAHAHAHHA!!!!

NOT YALL TAKING PRISONERS NOW 💀

#inbox #How do I explain this to the hostage negotiator

[bogkeep]

sketches for an S & D tier AU where morgan is in a rock band and alex is a very famous actor. this is nearly a year old, but i finally wrote the fic it's for :')

#s and d tier #morgan d tier #alex s tier #art #sketch #fanart #DOING IT FOR THE HOSTAGE NEGOTIATIONS #it took three days to write less than 1.5k words and i only managed because i already had a whole outline for it #which is pretty indicative of my current state when it comes to writing :') #i think it turned out cute though!!!!

[tam--lin]

In my mind because of White Collar but did you know that, at least as of 15 years ago, high schoolers could just email their local FBI office and request an invite to this weekend FBI Youth Academy day?

Twenty of us fifteen years olds showed up and they were like yeah here's our office :) here's our bomb robot, you can drive it! let's do a polygraph on this fourteen year old. two of our agents are going to lock themselves in a back room and fake a hostage situation and you're going to have to hostage negotiate them out :) here's a slide show of a bunch of decomposing bodies.

#I sat next to this kid who was like 'yeah my uncle works here! I have no idea what he does. he's not allowed to tell us'. #serving as an enthusiastic but also very freaked out lead negotiator on that mock hostage negotiation was a formative experience tbqh #right now of course I'm very ACAB but at the time I was seriously pursuing becoming a federal agent. #then my conservative xtian debate league made the honestly brilliant choice to have us debate changes to the US justice system one year #which radicalized oh. probably all of us. #except for that one guy at nationals who told me under cross examination that he thought torture was cool and ok under all circumstances. #but everybody else. #tam.txt

[deadbeatdadjokes]

“He would not fuckiNg say that !!!” what if I had a gun to his head what then

#i don’t think y’all understand this not writing this is a hostage negotiation #I’m gonna give me everything I want and then get shot by the feds #occupational hazard #this is a joke but also a reminder to the stupid part of meat brain that is overly critical of everything to take a seat #and let me crash into this tree in peace

[odinsblog]

Republican hostage demands include:

Increasing and not cutting the defense budget, nor the Border Patrol budget

Cut funding to the following programs and agencies by 51 percent: Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), the Social Security Administration, Environmental Protection Agency, Veteran’s Assistance Program, Health and Human Services, Department of Education, Department of Housing and Urban Development, the Justice Department, the State Department, the Department of Transportation, NASA, the Labor Department, and more (source)

Rescind any student loan relief and make borrowers pay back any payments that were paused or recently forgiven

Defund the IRS so that it cannot go after wealthy tax evaders

New, harsher work requirements for Medicaid recipients

Raise the work retirement age for people enrolled in the SNAP, from 50 to 55 years old

More stringent work requirements for food stamp recipients

Deregulation of drilling and mining permitting

Repeal any tax breaks that encouraged using renewable energy sources

Pledges to increase domestic production of oil and other fossil fuels

In short, the Republican demands to raise the debt ceiling is a manufactured crisis. It’s yet another GOP wish list to attack poor people by eviscerating the social safety net, while simultaneously deregulating big businesses and defunding the government agencies that could hold polluters and exploiters accountable

👉🏿 https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/heres-whats-in-the-gop-bill-to-lift-the-u-s-debt-limit

👉🏿 https://www.dataforprogress.org/blog/2022/12/12/voters-want-congress-to-raise-the-debt-ceiling-and-protect-social-programs

👉🏿 https://www.cbsnews.com/amp/news/debt-ceiling-house-republicans-bill-limit-save-grow-act/

#politics #republicans #debt ceiling #matt gaetz #debt crisis #hostage negotiations #hostage takers

[rederiswrites]

13 out of 15 countries: let's demand a ceasefire right now!

Britain: too busy picking its nose; idk

The US: Don't you know We'rE neGOtiatINg! No ceasefire, only negotiating!

I could scream

#genuinely don't know how a ceasefire is supposed to imperil hostage negotiations #genuinely don't know how the US can countenance siding with isr*el #in the face of so much opposition and so much evidence #arghhhhhh #current events #Palestine

[souryogurt64]

Start of a 1,000 page email i just sent pete wentz ex boyfriend at 12:20am

#what a night #hostage negotiation with Cody the general manager of the burger king