The Montgomery County Multi-Jurisdictional SWAT Team trained Monday with a device that could resolve hostage situations with direct communication.
It deployed a throw phone into several situations where a non-compliant subject was barricaded. The phone is durable enough to be tossed into situations. It is attached to wires coming from a mobile SWAT command center.
“It’s vital to have a throw phone because it establishes a direct line of communication,” said Lieutenant Jeff Largent, team leader of the SWAT Hostage Negotiation Unit. “Our goal is to deescalate the situation and keep the SWAT team from having to go in. It improves the safety of the SWAT team and the person we are talking to.”
Largent is one of five local officers who trained to negotiate in barricaded situations. The other negotiators are detective lieutenants Bob Rivers and Dave Long and Patrolman Cade Mills of the Crawfordsville Police Department, as well as Sergeant Paul Davis of the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office.
SWAT team members practiced setting up a command center, deploying the throw phone and resolving situations as peacefully as possible. The phone is used only when an individual isn’t compliant or a hostage situation has been reported.
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