Interactive Suicide Intervention Simulation Created with FBI to Train Law Enforcement Community in Sensitive Crisis Negotiations
Washington, D.C.: WILL Interactive, Inc., the Potomac, MD-based leader in virtual experience behavior modification gaming, has developed The Incident 2 – Suicide Intervention with the FBI’s Crisis Negotiations Unit. An interactive gaming simulation, The Incident 2 expands on the fundamental principles of crisis negotiations learned in The Incident, the first interactive program released in 2002 that teamed WILL Interactive with the FBI’s CNU.
A serious learning tool for the law enforcement community, from experienced negotiators to line officers, The Incident 2 puts the user in the chair as the primary negotiator in two separate suicide intervention crises. Designed to improve critical thinking, judgment and decision-making, users role-play and make decisions as the negotiator in high-stakes and stressful crisis situations; they are able to see the consequences of their decisions as they would play out in real life, but in the safety of cyberspace. WILL Interactive’s patented VEILS™ (Virtual Experience Immersive Learning Simulations) technology, has been proven effective in changing behavior and enhancing positive decision-making.
The Incident 2 addresses two potential suicide intervention scenarios. The first module addresses a truly suicidal man who has kidnapped his daughter from his ex-wife’s custody. The second revolves around a man who has threatened to jump from the roof of a court building – he is capable of suicide but may also be “suicidal with other motives”. Besides an in-depth discussion of suicide intervention, topics also cover negotiation position papers, third party intermediaries, HOBAS Reports, instructing and using first responders, and active listening skills.
“WILL Interactive is pleased to again partner with the FBI’s Crisis Negotiations Unit following the tremendous success of our first collaboration The Incident,” said Sharon Sloane, CEO of WILL Interactive. “We are honored to work closely with the skilled law enforcement officers who regularly face the types of crisis negotiations depicted in the simulation.”
WILL Interactive pioneered and patented VEILS™ technology, that enables users to role-play the lead characters in live-action, research-based interactive movies that reflect real-life decisions and consequences in the safety of cyberspace. As with all of WILL Interactive’s programs, the goal is to enhance the user’s decision-making skills by creating role-play scenarios of realistic stressful situations where the user must make decisions in a slice of life context. The experiential learning provided by WILL Interactive’s programs teaches users how to think rather than what to think.
The Incident, predecessor to The Incident 2 – Suicide Intervention, puts you in the chair as the primary negotiator in a domestic violence standoff. You arrive at the scene of a barricade situation where a husband has taken his separated wife hostage at gunpoint. You make the first phone call, you decide which negotiating approach to use, and your negotiating skills affect the outcome. To peacefully resolve the situation, you must use active listening skills, the backbone of negotiation.
Users of The Incident and The Incident 2 are faced with the realistic language and complex situations typical in today’s crisis negotiations.