Whether it's a hostage situation or calming a person who is experiencing a mental health crisis, some local officers are now equipped to take on those tasks.
The Canadian Critical Incident Inc. (CCII) Crisis Negotiators Course was brought to the John D. Bradley Convention Centre in Chatham this week to train 18 police officers, four of which were getting re-certified.
The five day course is accredited by the Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services.
Tom Hart, president of CCII, said the first two days of the program focuses on communication and negotiating strategies, the third day focuses on case studies, and the following days deal with applying the skills learned to scenarios played out by actors.
"Chatham-Kent is a progressive service. Having their members trained as negotiators is beneficial to the police service and it's beneficial to the community they serve," he said.
Hart recently retired after spending time as a detective for the Durham Regional Police Service. He said crisis negotiations have changed over the years.
"Back in the day you were considered the hostage negotiator, well rarely do we have hostages now," said Hart.
Even so, negotiators are trained on what to do in a hostage situation, with meeting demands and deadlines. However, a major component to handling a crisis is knowing how to calm down a situation where a person suffers from mental illness.
"Chatham-Kent has had a few people threatening to jump off of buildings in the last couple of months so it's important that [officers] recognize the proper communication techniques, and negotiating techniques, and help those who suffer from mental illness," said Hart.
Hart said following this week's training, some officers in Chatham-Kent will be double certified, for example ,some will be tactical officers who are certified crisis negotiators as well.
"You want to resolve the incident peacefully but people get in crisis. If you're trained to deescalate and negotiate a peaceful surrender, that's the way to go," he said. "Tactical or use of force is an option... it's the last option."
Friday marks the last day of the course for Chatham-Kent police.
