McMahon, Deb
Crisis Negotiation Team Training Management Workshop (Limited to First 50 Attendees)

As a Crisis Negotiation Team Leader, you are charged not only with the safety and operational effectiveness of your team but also with fostering an environment where continual growth, adaptability, and readiness are prioritized. Yet, the reality is clear: time, money, staffing, and operational demands frequently get in the way of consistent, meaningful training.

The information in this training is designed to meet you at that intersection of responsibility and reality. It acknowledges the constraints we all face while offering practical solutions, grounded in both military doctrine and real-world negotiation experience. This guide provides a structured approach for identifying training needs, aligning activities with organizational priorities, and leveraging creative resources to build a sustainable training model.

Whether you're working with a seasoned team or building one from the ground up, this content is meant to spark ideas, reduce barriers, and help you build a deliberate, year-round plan that balances must-haves with strategic nice-to-haves. You will receive guidance on developing internal expertise, community partnerships, practical exercises, and resource pooling to ensure that no matter your budget or bandwidth, your team continues to move forward. Training is not an event; it's a culture.

Participants will complete the POLARIS Training Management Assessment, a leadership-focused self-evaluation designed to identify strengths, vulnerabilities, and sustainability challenges within their team's training program. The assessment examines strategic planning, readiness, performance evaluation, scenario development, and succession planning, helping team leaders identify opportunities to strengthen operational capability and long-term team effectiveness.

Deb McMahon - Bio
Ms. McMahon serves as a senior instructor and curriculum developer for Crisis Hostage Negotiation and Peer Support Programs for Crisis Systems Management, LLC. Ms. McMahon retired as a Special Agent of the U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Division. Prior to her retirement, Ms. McMahon was an instructor assigned to Operations and Investigations Division, Advanced Law Enforcement Training, U. S. Army Military Police School, Fort Leonard Wood, MO. Ms. McMahon instructed advanced law enforcement subjects to criminal investigators who were assigned to municipal, state, and federal law enforcement agencies from throughout the world. In addition to her instructional duties, Ms. McMahon developed specialized advanced law enforcement training programs. During her twenty-one years of law enforcement experience, Ms. McMahon has performed such diverse duties as patrol, traffic accident investigation, desk sergeant, covert drug investigator, criminal investigator, protective services agent, and crime scene and evidence technician. She has also served as a senior criminalistics advisor, evidence program manager, and in a variety of positions on Crisis Response Teams. Ms. McMahon served in supervisory capacities as Task Force Commander, Drug Suppression Team Chief, and as Operations NCO to a seventy-person protective service security element for the 50th Anniversary NATO Summit. Operational assignments have taken Ms. McMahon throughout the United States, Europe and the Middle East. Some of Ms. McMahon's technical education and training include numerous Crisis and Hostage Negotiations courses, Countering Terrorism, Traffic Accident Investigation, Advanced Fraud Investigation, Protective Services, Child Abuse Prevention/Investigative Techniques, numerous advanced interview courses, gang training courses, and several Drug Enforcement Administration training courses. In addition to her technical training, Ms. McMahon has also attended more than twenty-six weeks of advanced leadership development and management training. Ms. McMahon has earned Bachelor of Science degrees in both Criminal Justice and Psychology. In a variety of environments, Ms. McMahon has served as a member of a crisis response team and has negotiated numerous hostage, barricaded subjects and potential suicide incidents. In addition to her practical experience, Ms. McMahon has authored Crisis Response Plans, has planned, executed and supervised major crisis response training events, and has published numerous professional articles on a variety of law enforcement topics, including crisis negotiation and crisis negotiation training. Ms. McMahon is currently the Training Director for the Missouri Association of Crisis Negotiators. Ms. McMahon has Bachelor of Science Degrees in Criminal Justice and Psychology from Drury University.