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Course · Crisis negotiation
Crisis negotiation: when you can't run or fight
Crisis preparedness for people on the front lines. We will teach you how to talk to an armed attacker, reduce tension and buy time until the police arrive. The course is led by lecturers with police experience from URN and is intended for security, reception and management of institutions.
In the course you will practice the reaction, not just the theory
Practice example with an instructor
The instructor guides the participants step by step and corrects their responses.
GBH Academy does not haunt. It teaches a specific procedure for a situation under pressure.
Corporate team
A model situation will show who is in charge and who is waiting.
Institution
The program is based on the operation of the building and the roles of individual people.
The instructor corrects the reaction of each participant directly during the exercise.
We build scenarios according to the environment: school, company, office, public space.
You will take away from the course a simple procedure for the first minutes.
Choose a course for yourself, your team or institution.
View courses1-2 days
8-16 hours of the program
8–20
People in the group
Cases
Anonymized cases from practice
Practice
Model situations with extras
What you will learn
Anatomy of a crisis and types of attackers
Who is in crisis: categories of attackers (instrumental, expressive, psychotic). What a negotiator needs to know in the first 60 seconds.
Active listening (BIFF, LEAPS)
Behavioral Influence Stairway Model (FBI) and LEAPS techniques. How to win a person's trust in a crisis and not lose control over the situation.
Emotional regulation under pressure
How a negotiator manages his own stress: breathing under adrenaline and short breaks during negotiations. Without it, other techniques do not work.
Structuring time
How to buy time when nothing can be negotiated and hold the situation until IZS arrives. How to recognize the signs that the situation is escalating.
Coordination with the police and IZS
How to hand over the negotiation to the negotiators of the Police of the Czech Republic. What to do until their arrival and how to ensure that communication is not interrupted.
Model situations: 3 scenarios with extras
Scenarios from practice: an aggressive customer in traffic, a threat at school and a family conflict in social services. Each round is followed by a debrief.
First day theory and model situations, second day just practice
1-2 days
- 09:00–10:30
Introduction, anatomy of crisis, types of attackers
- 10:30–12:00
Active listening: BIFF and LEAPS
- 12:00–13:00
Lunch break
- 13:00–14:30
Emotional regulation and time management
- 14:30–16:30
Model situations 1 and 2 with extras and debrief
- Day 2
Model situation 3, coordination with IZS and evaluation
Where one sentence gains time
Practical impact
Buy time, reduce tension, turn the situation over to professionals.
Crisis negotiation it's not just about the police. The first minutes often handles reception, security, school management, social worker or HR. On the course, they will learn what to say, in what order and where the boundaries are.
- 01
Security managers and the front line
You stand between the attacker and the people behind you. We will teach you to buy time, calm the situation and turn it over to the police before the worst happens.
- 02
Negotiators for companies and banks
When taking hostages, threats or coercion, every sentence counts. We will teach you active listening techniques (BIFF, LEAPS) and their use under pressure.
- 03
Educators and school management
An aggressive parent, a student in crisis, a threat in the classroom. We will teach you to speak calmly and confidently, even when the situation is out of control.
- 04
Social workers and outreach services
In the field, you are often alone and without a background. We will show you how to recognize escalation in time and safely back out of a tense situation.
- 05
Reception of offices, courts and ambulances
You are the first person an upset person talks to. We'll teach you how to handle pressure at the counter before it escalates into an incident.
- 06
HR specialists for crisis situations
Termination, workplace conflict, threatened employee. You will be given scripts and procedures for conversations where emotion trumps reason.
Dirty negotiation
Footage from the training: briefing, model situation with extras and debrief.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between crisis negotiation and de-escalation?
De-escalation is a short conversation that aims to stop the conflict within a few minutes. Crisis negotiations last longer, from tens of minutes to hours, and usually take place when the threat is higher: the person has a gun, is holding a hostage, or is in an acute mental crisis. We teach both.
Do the lecturers have experience?
Yes. The course is led by former members of the URNA intervention unit of the Police of the Czech Republic. We work with anonymized cases from real interventions, not with academic theory.
Can we order the course only for management or only for the front line?
Yes. Management usually opts for a one-day overview workshop. First line and security attend a two-day practical course with model situations. We will arrange the range according to your needs.
How long do we retain the skills after the course?
Skill drops ~50% over 12 months without repetition. We recommend once a year a one-day repetition with model situations and a debrief, as well as a short exercise at your place twice a year.
What next
We will prepare a crisis negotiation course for your team
Write to us who is to be trained, in which field they work and when. We will send a program customized for your environment, venue and costing.
Crisis negotiation for your institution
Send us a brief inquiry. We will adjust the program for security, negotiators and management of institutions.
- Dlouhá 730/35, 110 00 Prague 1
- info@gbhdefence.com
- +420 252 548 480