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Detective Kenny Hinthorne outlines Mount Vernon crisis negotiation tactics, team structure and training
Summary
Detective Kenny Hinthorne described how Mount Vernon and Skagit County negotiators work to resolve barricades and crisis calls peacefully, outlining team roles, training requirements, interagency response and tools such as a throwable Bluetooth speaker. He detailed a seven-hour jail negotiation that ended without force.
Detective Kenny Hinthorne of the Mount Vernon Police Department described how Skagit County negotiators aim to resolve high-risk calls peacefully, emphasizing teamwork, training and communication tools.
Hinthorne told the Roll Call Room that his primary assignment is major-crimes detective work but that he also serves on the county crisis negotiation team and as a defensive-tactics instructor. “Were trying to create a peaceful resolution,” he said. “Its just two different arenas. But the goal is the same.”
The negotiator stressed that crisis response is a team process: a primary communicator speaks with the subject while a coach provides real-time guidance, backgrounders research the subjects contacts and history, and a scribe documents the exchange. Hinthorne said teams may include members from multiple Skagit County agencies and can deploy anywhere in the county. “There may be two people that respond. It may be seven or eight of us that go out on a bigger scene,” he said.
Why the team approach matters,…
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