Washington County Sheriff's Office issued the following announcement on May 4.
This week, members of the Washington County Sheriff's Office inter-agency Crisis Negotiation Unit participated in the 36th annual Hostage Negotiation Team Competition hosted by the Western States Hostage Negotiators' Association. Twelve negotiation teams from multiple states competed in a challenging full-day scenario in which every aspect of crisis negotiation was utilized and tested.
Upon completing this year's competition, the Washington County Crisis Negotiation Unit was awarded first place. The team has been awarded first place in this highly challenging competition in six out of the last seven conferences they have participated in. The Crisis Negotiation Unit tied for first place in 2015, 2016, and 2018 competitions and won outright in 2017 and 2021 (the 2020 conference was canceled due to Covid-19).
The Crisis Negotiations Unit (CNU) is an interagency team that works to create a peaceful resolution to what can be highly volatile situations. The team responds to many callouts throughout Washington County every year, often in tandem with the Tactical Negotiations Team. The team members are trained in crisis negotiation and use those skills to bring about the safest resolution possible.
The Western States Hostage Negotiators' Association (WSHNA) was founded in 1986 to develop negotiation teams to the highest degree of proficiency in the performance of their professional duties. The association is represented by enforcement and corrections crisis negotiators from eight states and British Columbia.
This year's conference and competition were hosted in Blaine, Washington, by the Whatcom County Sheriff's Office.
Original source can be found here.
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