Law Enforcement Endorsements
The following is a list of endorsements from law enforcement negotiation practitioners around the world
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The world doesn’t need me to tell them that Gary Noesner has“been there, and done that”. There are hundreds of living victims across the globe that are living testament to Gary’s abilities to successfully negotiate, or teach others effective crisis negotiation. I’m just proud to call him my friend. Unlike many self-proclaimed experts in the field of crisis negotiation, Gary Noesner enjoys the respect of working cops around the globe. From Pretoria to Peoria; from Jordan, Montana to Amman, Jordan; hostage negotiators apply the lessons he taught, and are saving lives every day.
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It would be difficult to quantify the impact Gary Noesner has had on the field of Crisis Negotiations across the United States, Canada and throughout Europe. Facing determined criminals and terrorists, his exploits in this highly specialized field should be a “must read” for Negotiators and those interested in the life of a man responsible for saving countless lives around the globe.
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“Gary Noesner was to Crisis Negotiation what Charles Darwin was to Biology. He introduced structure and discipline to what was previously an area riddled with myth and misconception.”
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Both nationally and internationally, Gary Noesner has had a profound impact through his leadership in the development of crisis negotiation as we know it today. The breadth and depth of his expertise is a result of his work in the most difficult and challenging cases that we have encountered as a nation. True to form, he has maintained and shared his perspective, principles and priorities with self-effacing humor. This book covering his work in crisis negotiation provides a compelling history of the modern discipline of crisis negotiation. One need only look at his rolodex, crowded with colleagues who have collaborated on the most challenging life and death cases, to understand the impact that his work has had on the lives of others.
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Gary Noesner is a master negotiator – sharp, witty and experienced and they don’t come better than that! In the art of crisis negotiation, he is a legend in his own right. His equal will never be among us again.
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In fact, Gary Noesner never really “left the building”. He was and I am sure he still is a major key point in the development of hostage negotiations. Above that he is virtually “responsible” for saving thousands of lives all over the world. Meet him and you will not forget him”
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Gary Noesner led the FBI’s Crisis Negotiation Program with professionalism and the respect of all of his colleagues. Gary’s initiative propelled the FBI to a position of national and international excellence in a field that few have ever participated in directly. Crisis Negotiations requires experience, a cool head in times of crisis and the ability to think on your feet in the face of extreme threat … and Gary personified each and every element. It was an honor to work with him and to learn my skills from the very best.
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“If my wife and daughter were taken hostage, I would want Gary to negotiate for them. When Gary became a part of the FBI’s Crisis Negotiation Unit, and later became the Unit Chief, the program needed updating. Gary not only restored FBI’s leadership role in negotiations, but elevated the negotiation process to new prominence.”
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The author has been in the trenches of numerous high profile critical incidents and openly shares the many costly lessons learned. Gary Noesner’s exceptional skills, passion and dedication to his craft have resulted in seminal contributions to law enforcement’s negotiation community both home and abroad.
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Gary Noesner has been an extraordinary investigator, educator and good will ambassador for the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Control Risks and the United States of America for many years. His astonishing impact on local, national and international levels has resulted in not merely the good will and friendship of all who have met him but can be enumerated in the thousands of lives he is credited with saving both directly and indirectly. He has an uncommon story to tell.
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Due to his effusive personality, ability to articulate his broad knowledge and experience, and renowned sense of humor, Gary Noesner is undoubtedly the foremost federal ambassador to American law enforcement in the field of critical incident management in general and crisis negotiations in particular. Experienced and knowledgeable crisis negotiators have learned that when Gary Noesner speaks, we need to listen. It is in large part due to Gary and a very few others that crisis negotiations enjoys the noble position of respect and effectiveness both within and outside the U.S. that it does.
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Gary Noesner is the real deal! I have known Gary for almost twenty-five years. We first met when he was assigned to the Washington Field office (WFO) of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and I was the Detective Lieutenant in Charge of the New York Police Department (NYPD) Hostage Negotiation Team (HNT). Our professional relationship continued when he was assigned to Quantico and later when he joined the private sector. Relationships between the FBI and local police departments have not always been first-rate but Gary knew and practiced the often elusive fine art of getting-along, for the good of the public. He is an excellent example of a street-wise agent who advanced in the Bureau and learned the intricate dance-steps that are needed to thrive and survive in the local, national and international arena. This was all accomplished while engaged in some of the most prominent hostage crisis confrontations and often controversial kidnap for ransom incidents of our time.
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#1″Gary Noesner’s passion for the art of hostage/crisis negations has influenced hundreds, probably thousands, of police negotiators in the world. His enthusiasm for this highly perfected skill is contagious. It can never be quantified how many lives Gary has helped save because of his contact with the everyday police negotiator.”
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I have known and worked with Gary Noesner for over 34 years, about 25 while serving together in the FBI and 9 since retirement from the FBI. During our time together in the FBI we worked closely in the areas of Crisis Negotiations and Management, as a part of the FBI’s Crisis Response Group, as well as in Negotiations training within the United States and Internationally. Since retirement from the FBI we have both continued working in the Crisis Negotiation and Management areas. Gary is without a doubt the most knowledgeable, widely recognized and highly respected authority in the area of Crisis Negotiations both within the United States and Internationally. He is largely responsible for the quality of the Negotiation training currently being taught throughout the world.
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Gary brought negotiation training to the forefront for local and state law enforcement agencies across the country. The bureaucratic “line” that sometimes divides local law enforcement and federal agencies did not exist when it came to Crisis Negotiation Unit in Quantico and crisis negotiation training. He and his team developed a concept in training and application that will continue to be the anchor for future negotiators.”
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“Gary’s leadership and efforts within the international hostage negotiation profession in the last three decades has been the driving force behind advancing this field from “1st generation to 2nd generation” teaching and practice. His thoughtful, compassionate, and genuine personality attributes, coupled with scientifically sound socio-psychological principles, have been the foundation of developing a crisis negotiation model that I have found useful as a negotiator in such hostile theatres of operation as Bosnia, Iraq, Somalia etc.. Gary is not only known as the long serving former-Head of the FBI Hostage Negotiation Program at Quantico, but more importantly, as father of the international hostage negotiation community. Through his leadership and facilitating the collaboration within our profession, he has lead in the development of a negotiation model that has applicability in the worlds most difficult crises, corporate boardrooms, health care professional class rooms and throughout the policing community. Every reader of this book, from hostage negotiators, police managers, executives, sales persons, diplomats, will benefit from the experiences Gary has garnered in the school of hard knocks and high risks of hostage negotiations. His wealth of experience and knowledge can not only aid in the resolution of all forms of crises, but more importantly in the prevention of the potential catastrophic consequences of not having a negotiation strategy or using these critical skills”.
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“Since the nineties the South African Police Service liaised with the Federal Bureau of Investigation regarding hostage negotiation. Gary Noesner was instrumental in the liaison and visited South Africa presenting two National Workshops. During these workshops I had personal contact with him, getting to know him better. Following his retirement the relationship between the SAPS hostage negotiators and the FBI continued on a well-based foundation. Apart from his contribution in responding to incidents, I also value his contribution to operationalize hostage negotiation in the SAPS. However, to my opinion his most outstanding contribution was to establish a culture of objectivity in assessing incidents during an incident as well as post operationally. This honesty in which different options are assessed and applied is the crux of negotiation during an incident and the principal ethos of attending to people in need during hostage and suicide related incidents. In many court cases the question is often asked: What would the reasonable man (human) do? And equally, what would the reasonable doctor, a police official etc. do? indicating the reasonable actions which could be taken. In my mind Gary Noesner could be the “reasonable” hostage negotiator, close to be the perfect example of a negotiator.”
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Despite the breadth of the Atlantic the FBI and Scotland Yard were never closer in law enforcement than in the sphere of hostage negotiations and crisis resolution. Gary and I were both Directors of training for our organizations. We shared students, cases and techniques. Knowing that we also shared an unswerving belief that the skills we were teaching and the professionalism we were trying to instill was saving lives and protecting officers and agents who were daily in harm’s way was reassuring beyond measure. Having a conversation with Gary was like talking to myself, but getting smart answers, we thought alike, laughed at the same jokes and anguished over the same problems. When eventually we got to work together in the field on an international case, we could not have been closer had we walked the beat together in London or DC. Gary’s contribution to this arcane and high risk area of law enforcement is legendary.
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Gary Noesner brought the Crisis Negotiation Unit into the space age. He won many bureaucratic battles. He was the right person, in the right place at the right time. He knew what had to be done and did it very well. For his countless contributions, he is the only FBI Unit Chief to be awarded Honorary Lifetime Membership in the California Association of Hostage Negotiators (CAHN). CAHN is the largest and oldest association of law enforcement and correctional negotiators in the world. Like the Academy Awards, peer recognition is the greatest career accomplishment. Gary has achieved this goal. I am honored to be his friend and thankful that he took our unit in the right direction. He fought the good fight, he finished the race, and kept the faith.
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“Gary Noesner, an outstanding mentor for the Norwegian Police Crisis- and hostage negotiation Unit from 1990 to 2006. His ability to transfer knowledge in both negotiation techniques and tactics is unique. He founded the International Negotiators Working Group (INWG) as a tool to improve a global mutual approach to save lives through dialog and communication. He is still a highly respected colleague in the international society of crisis and hostage negotiators.”
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“The FBI could not have manufactured a better negotiator, teacher, supervisor and world-wide ambassador for the position of Unit Chief, Crisis Negotiations, than Gary Noesner, who introduced me to the art of negotiations and crisis management in 1990. If you were kidnapped, you’d want Gary to be the primary or negotiations coordinator. I would!
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It was April of 1997. In one of the most vast and remote regions of West Texas known as the Davis Mountains I first met Gary Noesner. An armed anti-government group calling their cause the “Republic of Texas” and claiming Texas had been illegally annexed into the United States some 150 years earlier had taken hostages, one of which had been shot and seriously wounded. The Texas Rangers had never subscribed to negotiation, especially when faced with what we perceived as violent criminals. Gary could sense and witness the tension. My boss, Texas Ranger Captain Barry Caver had plainly stated to Gary that he was ready to end the siege quickly and with extreme force. Gary had already driven past 300 law enforcement officers, watched as the state police helicopters circled above, and had seen the armed personnel carriers and the tank we had available. Gary calmly asked as series of questions. “Did we as the Texas Rangers want to give the home grown extremist movements across the United States another rallying cry for their radical beliefs?” “Were we wanting to make martyrs out of this group?” and, ” At what cost to the lives of law enforcements officers making the final assault?” The answers were all “no”. For the next few days Gary spoke vicariously through me to the group. Gary imparted his wisdom, experience, and spoke of the recent past tragedies of failed negotiations. I could tell the emotional and physical scars of those conflicts were permanent and listened to Gary’s advice. My focus was changed and I was going to do all I could to prevent a blood bath. Negotiations began to stabilize the event and the stand-off was soon over. All but two of the most violent in the group had peacefully surrendered. Lives were saved. Although I was doing all the talking to the ROT during the prolonged event it was Gary and his whispers over my shoulder that made the difference. Gary earned my respect and I had gained a lifelong friend.
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“As the paradigm of hostage negotiation was created in law enforcement in the late 1970’s and early ’80’s, FBI Agent Gary Noesner emerged as a national leader in the evolution of the process which became so successful in managing hostage and barricade incidents. At the helm of the FBI’s Critical Incident Negotiation Team at he FBI Academy, Noesner was in the right place at the right time to educate and encourage police departments around the country to accept, adopt and implement the crisis negotiation model which has saved so many lives over the years. Noesner’s book could well be the seminal work on the history and evolution of crisis negotiations in American law enforcement.”
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“Gary’s unique yet common sense approach in dealing with critical incidents and human behavior has been taught to thousands of law enforcement officers around the world. Having been the incident commander of two of the highest profile cases in the modern history of the Texas Rangers, it works!”
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I have had the pleasure of working with Gary since the early 1990’s. Gary’s knowledge and guidance was critical in the establishment of the National Council of Negotiation Associations (NCNA) in 2001. This collective voice of nationwide negotiator associations helped to further professionalize the discipline of “crisis negotiations” and its importance in the field of critical incident management thus assisting us in saving lives.
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“During my career as a Hostage Negotiator between 1979 and 1999 and as National Training Co-coordinator in Australia I had the privilege of studying the art in many countries. From my international experience Gary Noesner enhanced the profession more than any person I encountered across the world”
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“Gary Noesner has done more to shape the state of the art of crisis negotiation worldwide than any other single individual.”
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Gary Noesner’s relationship with the California Association of Hostage Negotiators (CAHN) began in the early 1990’s while he was the Chief Negotiator with the FBI and administering their Quantico-based Crisis Negotiation Unit (CNU). Mr. Noesner provided the full support of the FBI to the CAHN community and introduced numerous national and international subject matter experts to CAHN’s membership. Mr. Noesner’s contributions and interest to the field of critical incident negotiations/management remains strong to this day. Gary Noesner has earned the respect of his peers not from one single incident or act, but through years of selfless contribution, operational expertise, and unwavering support to the international field of critical incident response and management.
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“It is no exaggeration to say that Gary Noesner has been a seminal influence on the development of crisis negotiations for critical incidents for almost 30 years. His insights, in-the-field real-world experiences and pioneering work over the years have very much been at the cutting edge of law enforcement and have set the standards to which all negotiators now aspire. The significant contribution and inroads he has also made to training and development has also ensured that the new up-coming generation of crisis negotiators are fully prepared and equipped to meet the many challenges faced by law enforcement officers from all works of life. Gary’s personal enthusiasm, motivation and guidance have been a personal example to all those who have come into contact with him over the years and will ensure that his considerable contribution to crisis negotiations will long be remembered.
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As Commander of the Swedish Police Counter Terrorist Unit I was also responsible for Crisis/Hostage Negotiation within the Swedish Police. I had the great advantage to be one of the students of Mr Noesner at the FBI Academy, Crisis Negotiation School 1994. At that time we didn’t have proper knowledge or organization for Crisis Negotiaton (CN) in Sweden. After the course at the Academy I started the first steps of creating a Swedish capacity in the field of CN. At that time I needed a lot of support and asked Mr Noesner for help. At several occasions from 1994 and forwards he and some of his staff came over to Sweden, conducting high quality courses. Mr Noesner actually is to be seen as the founder of CN within the Swedish Police!! He also is the founder of the International Crisis Negotiation Working Group, started in 2000. INWG is still a very important working group for international cooperation and learning. Today we have trained 150 police officers as Crisis negotiators throughout Sweden and also in the Prison system. Negotiators are used daily to save lives in Sweden and without the professional support of Gary Noesner we would have lost lives in crisis and high risk operations – not knowing the need of listen to people and the value of the power of words and empathy. The courses we run every year in Sweden are still based on the highly respected knowledge and experience of Gary Noesner. I also would like to add that we have helped other Scandinavian countries based on the same concept.
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Gary’s willingness to share his vast knowledge within the field of crisis negotiation and his unwavering support has had a tremendous impact on many crisis negotiators around the world.
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Gary Noesner has been one of the most significant and influential figures in the world of crisis negotiations for more than 30 years. As a top professional negotiator and visionary, Gary became a teacher and mentor for many of the top crisis negotiators worldwide. His profound teachings are still guiding law enforcement negotiators daily in their novel work of saving human lives.
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