# I'm being held at gunpoint.  What are the police supposed to do?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-being-held-at-gunpoint-what-are-the-police-supposed-to-do/514762>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [October 22, 2009, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-being-held-at-gunpoint-what-are-the-police-supposed-to-do/514762 "2009-10-22T17:59:43Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 2

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![rocking\_chair](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rocking_chair/32/2918_2.png) [@rocking\_chair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rocking_chair)\
**Post date:** [October 24, 2009, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-being-held-at-gunpoint-what-are-the-police-supposed-to-do/514762/21 "2009-10-24T21:48:23Z")

</div>

> [@silenus](#):
>
> \ ***Harry Temple:** All right, pop quiz. Airport, gunman with one hostage. He’s using her for cover; he’s almost to a plane. You’re a hundred feet away… Jack?  
> **Jack:** Shoot the hostage. \*

shoot the hostage was my first thought at reading the thread topic.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\
**Post date:** [October 24, 2009, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-being-held-at-gunpoint-what-are-the-police-supposed-to-do/514762/22 "2009-10-24T22:31:51Z")

</div>

> [@Dewey\_Finn](#):
>
> He said the negotiator said that if they were not able to negotiate a peaceful resolution, that his job was to get the hostage taker to a window

This seems to assume the hostage taker is an idiot, suicidal, or both. Are there any plans you know of that don’t rely on those things?

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\
**Post date:** [October 24, 2009, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-being-held-at-gunpoint-what-are-the-police-supposed-to-do/514762/23 "2009-10-24T23:36:42Z")

</div>

> [@Derleth](#):
>
> This seems to assume the hostage taker is an idiot, suicidal, or both. Are there any plans you know of that don’t rely on those things?

A hostage-taker is having to deal with a lot of different things at once (like, “Oh, shit, how did I get here, and what the fuck am I going to do now?”), and so will not be thinking nearly as clearly as the team of negotiators, crisis management specialists, and special tactics officers. If a talk-down isn’t happening, then the job of the negotiator is to open up some tactical advantage or identify a point of entry for the SWAT guys.

And no, most hostage-takers are not candidates for the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. Most are more akin to John Wojtowicz (portrayed by Al Pacino in the fictionalized _Dog Day Afternoon_) than the clever heist team in _Inside Man_.

Stranger

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\
**Post date:** [October 26, 2009, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-being-held-at-gunpoint-what-are-the-police-supposed-to-do/514762/24 "2009-10-26T15:11:48Z")

</div>

> [@Una\_Persson](#):
>
> Having been held at gunpoint not once, but **thrice** , I can say that I would be the hostage mouthing “shoot him!” to the police the entire time…

(bolding mine)

:eek:  
You have _got_ to get a better hobby!!

(interesting thread, BTW, and I hope I never have to learn more about the subject than I read here).

[Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-being-held-at-gunpoint-what-are-the-police-supposed-to-do/514762.md?page=1)