Crisis Negotiator

My first call out as a Crisis Negotiator took place in Yellowstone National Park on August 20, 1993.

I was at our residence in Fishing Bridge Village when the Yellowstone Communication Center called and informed me that Lake Rangers had just responded to a domestic violence incident in the Fishing Bridge RV Campground.

I was told to report to the Fishing Bridge RV Campground Office where I would meet with Ranger Siebecker who was the Lake Area Supervisor and Incident Commander.

A few months earlier, the Irvine Police Department, where I was a Reserve Officer, had sent me to a Basic Crisis Negotiator Course at San Jose State University. After completing the training, I felt prepared to serve as a negotiator and manage real-life situations where visitors’ lives might be at risk.

It all started with calls to the Communication Center from the Fishing Bridge RV Campground by a caller who had fled in fear from her boyfriend and another caller reporting seeing a man throwing items out the door of an RV, flipping a table over, and then loudly revving the RV’s engine.

Ranger Miles was dispatched to the campground and met with Susan (not her real name) and assured her that she was now safe. Susan told Miles that she and her boyfriend had been arguing about his drinking when he started throwing furniture and broke a mirror inside the RV.

At one point, he pushed her against a wall and then tried to drive the RV out of the campsite but was unable to because the wheels were still blocked and electrical, water, and sewer hook-ups still attached.

Miles also learned that her boyfriend had been drinking heavily and taking medication.  In the mix, there was a loaded shotgun in the RV and readily available.

Susan was then transported to Lake Hospital and treated for cuts she sustained during this incident and met with a Lake Hospital Counselor.

Chief Ranger Dan Sholly, at Park Headquarters in Mammoth Hot Springs, had been advised of the situation by Ranger Siebecker and had approved a call out of the Special Operations Team if we felt it was necessary.

Before contacting the boyfriend still inside the RV, Rangers went to nearby campsites and moved campers to the Fishing Bridge Hamilton Store for their safety.  The store manager had been with the Orange County Sheriff’s Department in California and was more than willing and capable of providing safe shelter for a group of displaced campers in the middle of the night.

It was time to contact the boyfriend.  Keep in mind, that I didn’t have all the bells and whistles negotiators have at their disposal like you see in the movies.  Any communication I was going to have would have to be done with a megaphone speaker.

Ranger Miles was our wheelman.  He drove the blacked-out patrol car into A Loop and positioned us at a safe distance from where the boyfriend’s RV was still parked.

Ranger Miles, Ranger Snyder and I quietly exited the car and took cover.

It was cold and raining. I held the megaphone and Miles held an M-14.

This was it.  This is what I trained for.  In my mind’s eye, I pictured all those scenarios and what I needed to do. Time to start negotiating and defuse this situation.

“Hello.  My name is Rick Gale.  I’m a Park Ranger.  Are you Okay?”

I listened. Nothing.

Again, I attempted to get a response.  I wanted to get the boyfriend to talk, which might help to reduce his anxiety about being surrounded by Park Rangers.

“Talk to me about what’s happening.”

While I continued trying to get the boyfriend to talk with me, Ranger Semprini was able to get a quick visual from a safe distance into the RV using a flashlight and could not see the boyfriend.

After 30 minutes of getting no response, we decided it was time to make our move.

Ranger Miles and I entered the RV through an unlocked front door and rushed down the hallway into a bedroom and cuffed the suspect who was lying unconscious on the bed.

Going in right behind us, Ranger Semprini located a shotgun and a full magazine of 12 gauge slugs that had been placed between a wall and couch near the entrance door.

After being taken into custody, the boyfriend was transported to the Mammoth Jail and booked on charges of possessing a loaded firearm in the park, public intoxication, and disorderly conduct.