CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Channel 9 cameras have captured urgent moments of standoffs with armed suspects that can turn into long hours of negotiating.
Thursday, Eyewitness News Anchor Allison Latos received exclusive access as Charlotte-Mecklenburg police officers trained how to end those dangerous situations peacefully.
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"The main goal of the whole SWAT team is the purpose of saving lives," CMPD Capt. Todd Lontz said.
Officials said they are developing the skills of active listening, investigating, and overcoming the changing challenges of a suspect's mental situation, their demands, triggers, and technology.
"We've negotiated with people that are talking to two or three other people while they're talking to us," Lontz said. "We recently communicated with a guy through Facebook and a WiFi connection."
Lontz said patrol officers are the first ones at tense scenes and crisis intervention training has helped diffuse situations before SWAT arrives.
After last month's officer-involved shooting, city leaders said they want to explore whether these in-depth skills should be taught department wide.
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Mayor Vi Lyles said leaders will take a closer look at de-escalation training, pointing to SWAT officers ability to hold their fire.
"When we've had our SWAT teams in, we've had no loss of life in the experiences of the number that they have," Lyles said. "If we have that kind of training, what does it include that perhaps needs to be included to all officers. We'll start thinking about that."
CMPD said the crisis intervention certification is not mandatory for officers. Officials said 36 percent of the entire department has been through it, that includes 45 percent of patrol officers and sergeants.
The training is 40 hours and CMPD said they continually offer it.