After Hostage Crisis

The usual thing that happens after a bungled hostage-crisis or similar situation is to engage in finger pointing and recrimination. The fact that images of the crisis were being beamed nationally and internationally in real time allowed for people to either empathize with the hostages, or to take on the role of armchair generals…instant experts who thought that what they pick up from watching TV or the movies copuld be instantly applied to the scenario in question.

The whole mess could have been avoided if the driver had exercised the normal precautions at the start. To protect the integrity of the bus and its passengers, he should never have allowed a total stranger – whether garbed in police attire or not – to hitch a ride.

This fact should be imparted henceforth by tourism officials to the industry that services the needs of visitors. For purposes of this exercise, however, let us consider that the fateful decision as having been made which resulted in the crisis.
There are a few logical things that could have been done – aside from better crowd control and the appointment of a well-trained negotiator who could be placed in charge of the entire event on the part of the police – which may have helped somewhat in the final assault, if it had to be made.

Why do I seem to recall all of these, and not just from watching TV or the movies? Some two decades ago, my partner and I represented some European defense firms. One of them offered free SWAT training precisely for anti-terror and hostage situations. For free, in coordination with their government. Two of the best anti-terror teams in the business would have come over to show us how to do things.

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Posted by Jhon on Aug 31 2010. Filed under Breaking News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry