This presentation offers a historical case study of the 1980s Saint Louis City Police Department pension fund scandal, which led to a Police Officer holding a Police Commissioner hostage. This incident inspired the movie "The Negotiator." The study has been a three-year project that included interviews with the hostage taker, the on-scene commander, four negotiators, a sniper, the hostage's sons, and the newspaper reporter who covered the story. Research involved police reports, newspaper articles, and TV broadcasts.

Focus topics include issues and challenges related to negotiating with one of your own, the importance of debriefings and training with other teams, trusting the negotiation process, and learning from experienced personnel.

Patrick Doering retired after a 28.5 year career with the Lake St. Louis (MO) Police Department. He was a Crisis/Hostage Negotiator for 20 of those years and spent the last three years as the Commander of the St. Charles County Regional Crisis Negotiation Team. He is a graduate of the FBI National Academy, the FBI National Crisis Negotiation Course, and the London Metropolitan Police (Scotland Yard) National Negotiators course. Patrick is the former President and co-founder of the Missouri Association of Crisis Negotiators. He has presented case studies at several negotiation conferences across the country. He is currently the Crisis Negotiation Section Chair for the National Tactical Officers Association.