MPD Crisis Negotiation Unit leader describes de-escalation techniques during standoff situations

MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) -- The Milwaukee police officer that was shot and injured Tuesday during an hours-long standoff with an armed suspect has been identified.

The Milwaukee Police Association confirmed the 38-year-old officer is Dan Morrell, a 16-year veteran of the force.

The MPA says Morrell is recovering from a broken femur and a nicked artery. The union also says Morrell's doctors are unsure if he will ever regain full mobility of his leg.

Tuesday's standoff ended when the armed suspect surrendered to police after negotiators spent four hours trying to get him to stand down.

Officer Morrell was the only person injured during that lengthy and tense standoff. The leader of MPD's Crisis Negotiation Team said that's thanks in large part to extensive training and careful listening.

Much like responding officers, the negotiating teams often do not know what exactly they're walking into when pressed into duty.

A neighbor's cellphone video captured part of the long negotiations Tuesday as police detectives spoke with a man holding a rifle on his porch. One negotiator could be heard telling the man, "We want your kids to have a dad. That's why we're here. We're here to talk."

Four children were inside the home at the time.

The situations are often highly charged. But negotiators are only concerned with safe outcomes, not how long it takes to get there.

Capt. Jim Hutchinson is the commander of the Crisis Negotiation Unit. He told us, "Essentially, the goal is to increase rationality through lowering emotionality."

Hutchinson has been on the team since 2006 and now leads it. He's personally been involved in negotiations that topped 14 hours.

About 40 detectives are on the team. Each gets 40 hours of professional training, then lots of time shadowing actual negotiations. Each is unique; many are volatile.

On Tuesday negotiators had to focus on the subject's wellbeing, the fate of the four children that were being held inside the home, and officers' safety outside.

Hutchinson said, "We respond to mental health type situations where somebody's life is potentially in danger. We respond to hostage-type situations."

The responding team includes a primary negotiator, a secondary negotiator, a note taker, and intelligence gatherers that can share relevant information.

Negotiators try to keep the person in conversation.

They told the man on the porch Tuesday, "It involves you keeping yourself safe; you keeping your kids safe. Your mom wants to see you every day, ok? Your kids want to see you every day."

Hutchinson said, "It is tough. Especially because we're dependent on their engagement back with us. Answering a cellphone, yelling back to us, that type of thing."

But keeping communication lines open is not always easy.

Hutchinson explained, "If it's a situation where they're just hanging up the phone, we're persistent. We'll keep trying, keep trying, keep trying."

On Tuesday, the negotiators could be heard asking the man about his children's names and if he'd spoken with his mother. "Stay here for these kids, man. The more you keep talking, the more you take care of your kids, ok?"

The man eventually let the children safely leave the house.

He later surrendered while obeying commands, which Hutchinson said is important. "We want to control where they come out, how they come out, how fast they come out."

The suspect in the standoff still has not been named by police.

Captain Hutchinson said sometimes there can be several negotiations a week. In fact, as we spoke with him for the interview Wednesday, another negotiation was underway at that very moment across town.