Purpose Hostage and crisis negotiators serve a vital function within society by resolving hostage/crisis incidents. This role, performed by specially trained police ‘volunteers’ helps to prevent numerous fatalities, and forms an important part of the modern policing repertoire. There is limited research that identifies the experiences of police officers that dedicate their lives to saving others by volunteering in this capacity. The current research, therefore, provides an insight into this fundamental police role using negotiator’s personal narratives. Design/methodology/approach This study consisted of an exploratory qualitative grounded theoretical analysis of semi-structured interviews conducted with 15 negotiators from nine English police forces. Findings The analysis revealed three primary, seven secondary and 23 tertiary categories that form a conceptual model of the negotiator experience. The three primary categories consisted of ‘negotiator positives’, ‘negotiator negatives’ and ‘negotiator ambivalences’, which provide an insight into the experiences and identities of negotiators in England. Practical implications The findings identify several positive factors that could be used to market the role more effectively within police forces and enhance future recruitment processes. Equally, the findings highlight several operational and organisational issues that have a negative impact on the negotiator experience. The findings are, therefore, discussed in light of the practical implications for negotiator training/continuing professional development, policy and practice. Originality/value This paper depicts the findings from one of the first qualitative analyses of negotiator experiences and provides a unique insight into the negotiator role from an Anglo-centric perspective.

中文翻译：

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“没有什么可以比拟的”

目的人质和危机谈判者通过解决人质/危机事件，在社会中发挥着至关重要的作用。由受过专门训练的警察“志愿者”担任的角色有助于防止大量死亡，并且是现代警务手段的重要组成部分。有限的研究表明了警官的经验，他们通过自愿以这种身份献出生命，以挽救他人。因此，当前的研究使用谈判者的个人叙述提供了这一基本警察角色的见解。设计/方法论/方法这项研究包括对来自9个英国警察的15名谈判人员进行的半结构式访谈的定性探索性定性理论分析。调查结果分析发现三个主要方面，七个中学和23个第三类，构成了谈判经验的概念模型。三个主要类别包括“谈判者积极性”，“谈判者否定性”和“谈判者矛盾性”，它们提供了对英格兰谈判者的经历和身份的深刻见解。实际意义调查结果确定了一些积极因素，可用于在警察部队中更有效地推销该职位并增强未来的招聘流程。同样，调查结果突出了几个对谈判者经验产生负面影响的运营和组织问题。因此，将根据对谈判代表培训/持续专业发展，政策和实践的实际影响来讨论调查结果。