Hostage Cop

The author, a member of the German segment of the New York Police Department's "establishment" teamed with a Jewish psychiatrist police officer to introduce the concept of organized hostage negotiation into the United States. The principles they taught and practiced are fleshed out in the real case stories that Bolz has collected.In addition to the cases themselves, the collision between the newer practices, vastly weighted toward saving all lives in the situation, and the older lines of thought, in which prevailing quickly was foremost, offers useful insight into how some police think about the issue.As well as information, "Hostage Cop" offers a good read for the time invested. Some standoffs are tense and exciting and others offer wonderful absurdities, often the very essence of a successful end to a crisis.If you like the big roundup and shootout, this book will probably bore you silly. If, however, you like tales of the power of the state calmed, idiocy avoided, and nasty situations brought to benign ends, this one will suit you down to the ground.