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03/14/93
FBI's `A-Team' plying varied skills in sect talks; But experts say obstacles numerous
By Victoria Loe / The Dallas Morning News
More than 1,500 disgruntled Cuban detainees riot simultaneously in Georgia and Louisiana, taking 154 hostages. A fugitive white supremacist in Idaho kills a federal marshal, then holes up in a remote cabin with three children. Followers of a Texas cult leader shoot it out with federal agents and hold a small army at bay.
These are jobs for the A-Team.
That's the trade name for the FBI's cadre of top hostage negotiators, the ones who persuaded the Cuban inmates and fugitive Randy Weaver to surrender peacefully. As the Branch Davidian siege stretches into its third week, the A-Team is leading the effort to talk David Koresh and his followers out of their fortress.
No one involved in the negotiations will discuss the strategies.
And even other veteran negotiators hesitate to comment directly on the talks, for fear of appearing to second-guess their peers.
But interviews with experienced negotiators and an article by members of the A-Team reveal much about the canons and tactics of the trade-and shed considerable light on the course of negotiations in Waco.
The negotiators' Holy Grail, the end to which their every effort is directed, is simple, says criminal justice professor Wayman Mullins:
"Nobody gets hurt.'
That may be harder to achieve in this case than in some other standoffs, says Peter DiVasto, the Energy Department's chief negotiator, who lives in Albuquerque, N.M.
"Almost every obstacle that could be in your way is in your way,' Mr. DiVasto says.
People have died on both sides, making it harder to establish trust between the Branch Davidians and federal authorities. The compound is self-contained and heavily fortified.
Then there are the children, 17 of whom are believed to remain inside the compound. Although Mr. Koresh insists that he is holding no hostages, some experts say the children's presence creates a de facto hostage situation.
Negotiators' first objective, says Mr. Mullins, a professor at Southwest Texas State University, must be "to get the children out.'
But the ultimate and most vexing obstacle is Mr. Koresh's belief that he is ordained by God to bring the end of the world-a belief that could prove stronger than his natural desire to live.
"Most people don't want to die,' says Mr. Mullins. "But here you've got a special case, someone with a messiah complex.'
Still, negotiators say they are accustomed to dealing with delusional people-that is merely one of the skills that allows them to bring an orderly resolution to situations born in violence and chaos.
Following are the skills being plied by the A-Team members and other negotiators in Waco, as revealed through articles and interviews.
BUILD CREDIBILITY-"Negotiations hinge almost completely on rapport-building, empathy, reasonableness, trustworthiness,' says Mr. DiVasto.
The article in the FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin recounts how inmates, mistakenly believing that an attack was imminent, were dissuaded from slaughtering hostages "only (by) the persuasiveness of a primary negotiator . . . (who) convinced the Cubans that the negotiators had been truthful in all instances.'
In Waco, authorities have followed through on several promises to Mr. Koresh.
They let him broadcast a one-hour message on the third day of the siege; they supplied milk to the compound; they sent in a videotape of the children who had been released; they allowed Branch Davidians to bury a sect member who died in the initial firefight.
BE REASSURING-"Negotiators continually reassured inmates that no assault would be mounted as long as the hostages were not harmed,' the A-Team authors wrote of the Oakdale and Atlanta riots.
In the Weaver standoff in Idaho last year, the FBI gave Mr. Weaver a written promise that he would not be harmed.
"The bottom line is always: "We don't want anybody else to get hurt,' ' says Bob Wiatt, a former FBI agent who helped with negotiations in Texas' longest prison standoff. He is now director of university police at Texas A&M University.
Negotiators in Waco repeatedly have stressed that they have no intention of attacking the compound or of harming the Branch Davidians if they should emerge.
KNOW YOUR ADVERSARY-Experts say a typical negotiating team includes not only the people who take turns talking to the suspect but also forensic psychologists who monitor his state of mind.
"You constantly measure his stress levels,' says Mr. Wiatt.
In the 1974 prison siege of drug kingpin Fred Carrasco,
authorities inserted a microphone into the prison library where Mr. Carrasco was holding several hostages. What they heard-Mr. Carrasco and his two accomplices growing more and more volatile-shaped their negotiating strategy.
"If the hostage-taker's anxiety level is too high, that's bad,' says Robert J. Louden, who served for 13 years on the New York City police hostage negotiating squad. "But if it's too low, that could be a sign of serious depression.' In that case, he said, it's important to assure the suspect that the situation is not hopeless, that he still has options.
ADOPT HIS FRAMEWORK-If a suspect is delusional, "you have to negotiate from his delusional perspective, adopt his framework,' says Mr. Mullins.
Mr. Louden, who is now a professor at New York's John Jay College of Criminal Justice, recalls a suspect who believed Darth Vader was sending him messages over the radio. Mr. Louden didn't pretend to hear the messages, but he didn't argue that they weren't real.
"You don't buy into fanaticism or delusion,' he says, "but you recognize it as his (the suspect's) reality.'
Negotiators in Waco have recruited religious scholars to educate them on the points of biblical prophecy that are central to Mr. Koresh's world view.
LET HIM VENT-"Their high personal frustration level, coupled with their mistrust of authorities . . . caused the (Cuban) inmates to reject an early resolution,' wrote the A-Teamers in the FBI Bulletin.
"Apparently, the situation had to "mature' to allow inmates to vent their emotions.'
"Frequently the actor just wants someone to listen,' says Mr.
Mullins-although he says he doubts that will satisfy Mr. Koresh's messianic imperatives.
Nevertheless, negotiators report that they have spent hours listening not only to Mr. Koresh's Bible lectures but also to his accounts of his troubled childhood.
IGNORE PROVOCATION-"It's almost scripted,' says Mr. Louden, discussing hostage-takers' tendency to threaten and goad negotiators. At some point in the course of almost every negotiation, he says, the suspect will say, "You'll have to come in and get me.'
But talk is just talk, so unless the threats are accompanied by a hostile act, negotiators generally don't take it seriously.
"The only thing that counts is his actions,' Mr. Wiatt says.
Chances are, Mr. Louden says, provocative statements by a group
leader are designed primarily to bolster resolve within the group.
Mr. Koresh's challenges to negotiators reportedly have included statements such as, "We are ready for war,' and "Let's get it on.' However, officials have consistently reiterated their desire for a peaceful end to the standoff.
USE YOUR BULLPEN-When talks are stalled, negotiators commonly bring in a fresh face, preferably someone respected by the suspect.
"If you're entering gridlock, you bring in someone new, someone with credibility,' says Mr. Wiatt.
In the Carrasco siege, which he negotiated, that someone was Mr.
Carrasco's San Antonio attorney. In the case of the Cuban inmates at Oakdale, negotiators brought in a Cuban-born Catholic bishop.
In the Weaver standoff, the surrender deal was sealed by a former Green Beret colonel who was known to Mr. Weaver. The colonel enlisted the aid of some local skinheads, who agreed to sign a letter urging Mr. Weaver to surrender.
Tuesday, after three days of stalemate, negotiators in Waco announced that they had allowed McLennan County Sheriff Jack Harwell to join the talks.
"The sheriff is respected by Mr. Koresh,' a federal official told reporters, "and it was our hope that by getting someone in there that he trusted, we could get the negotiations going back in a more positive vein.'
NO GIVE WITHOUT TAKE-Negotiators never give something for nothing.
"It's just like a labor negotiation or buying a car,' says Mr.
Mullins. "It's a give-and-take situation. He (the suspect) has got to show good faith, too.'
Mr. Louden says, "The message you're giving him is, "I'm here to
help you as long as you'll start helping yourself.' '
Mr. Koresh's one-hour religious discourse was broadcast on the promise that he and his followers would surrender immediately thereafter. Ever since he failed to fulfill that promise, he has been denied one of the things he craves most: direct access to the news media.
SHOW YOUR FIREPOWER-Although they talk love, not war, negotiators must demostrate both the ability and willingness to use force if people start getting hurt.
"Inmates were advised that tactical resources were available should any action be taken against the hostage population,' says the analysis of the Atlanta and Oakdale sieges.
"It's a show of force with a kid glove attached to it,' says Mr.
Wiatt.
Almost since the outset, the Branch Davidian compound has been ringed by heavily armed police and military equipment. When Mr. Koresh said he could destroy Bradley armored personnel carriers, they were replaced by more formidable M-1A1 Abrams tanks.
STAY FLEXIBLE-The goal and parameters of every negotiation may be the same, but in real life every standoff is unique.
"There is no blueprint, because every situation is different,' says Mr. Wiatt.
"I wish there were a formula, but there's not,' says Mr. DaVisto.
Often, Mr. Mullins says, negotiations will break down with little
warning or apparent sense.
"A million things can put you back to square one,' he says.
And even the negotiators themselves may not be sure how well or
badly things are going.
"I've been in negotiations where we all were about to give up, when suddenly the guy walked out,' Mr. Mullins says. "I've been in others where we all thought great progress was being made, and it suddenly went to . . . '
In the end, Mr. Louden says, there's only one cardinal rule: "Do what you gotta do when you gotta do it.'
BIDE YOUR TIME-"Time is the wisest counselor.' Mr. Louden says he had to laugh recently when that gem of wisdom popped out of his fortune cookie.
Because the one thing negotiators always have on their side is time.
With time, Mr. Louden says, they can build rapport and improve communications with the other side. They can gather new intelligence about their adversary and better assess his state of mind.
They can bring in additional resources, everything from more tanks to individuals who might be able to sway the suspect. They can refine their decision-making process.
They can prepare for an armed confrontation in the event that one is thrust upon them.
A SURRENDER RITUAL-"The Oakdale negotiators noted the need for inmates . . . to orchestrate the formal "surrender,' which would include signing a document in the presence of witnesses and the media,' the FBI Bulletin reported.
This ritual, the authors wrote, allowed the Cubans "to surrender with dignity.'
In Atlanta, too, "It was extremely important to the inmates to have their complaints aired to the American public and to have been seen as good people who had been maligned . . . '
It is not known what-if any-surrender ritual has been offered to Mr. Koresh and his followers. At this uncertain stage, perhaps, negotiators can only hope that they eventually will need one.
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