During Monday’s City Council work session, members of the Richardson Police Department (RPD) Hostage/Crisis Negotiation Team were recognized by RPD Chief Gary Tittle and the City Council for placing first at the Texas State Hostage Negotiation Competition last month in San Marcos. Twenty-nine teams from across the country participated in the three-day event, which included scenarios that lasted up to nine hours. This year, the RPD was represented by Officers Ledgerwood, Beddingfield, Booker and Dickerson, who are trained in dealing with hostage situations, barricaded persons, suicidal persons and other crisis-related events.
Chief Tittle also recognized the many RPD staff involved in the team’s monthly training and noted that while crisis negotiations is considered the four-member team’s “secondary assignment” within the RPD, they bested many larger teams whose primary work is negotiations.
Video: Feb. 20 presentation
