The potential applications of SMS messaging appear endless. Apart from it’s obvious uses as part of a mobile marketing campaign, texting has increasingly been employed by government authorities and emergency services as a tool to improve communication and social security. Emergency alerts, hospital appointment reminders, traffic updates – they’ve all been improved via SMS.
Now it’s the turn of America’s police departments. Experts in hostage negotiations are being trained in text messaging, according to a recent AP release which cited several examples of police officers who have already used SMS to communicate with suspects.
In March of this year, negotiators in Buffalo, New York were embroiled in a text message conversation with a suspect who had shot at police officers when they responded to a domestic call. The man had been communicating with relatives via text. Police said he preferred this method of communication.
Another case concerned a suspect who had held up a gas station and kept pointing a gun to his own head. Negotiations by phone call broke down, but the man eventually surrendered after texting the police his girlfriend’s number along with a plea for them to call her.
Texting is not appropriate in every situation, and law enforcement representatives have been quick to point out the potential pitfalls, such as an increased risk of being misunderstood. Highly stressful situations combined with limitations on certain nuances (in terms of tone of voice etc) inherent in typed communication. Most negotiators still prefer to talk to a suspect – but if that isn’t an option, or a suspect is simply unwilling to communicate in any other way, text messaging can help officers engage.
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