LEE COUNTY, Fla. -- A retired police officer who spent the last years of his career as a SWAT Negotiator is sharing insight on the tactics used and how they're tasked with helping people when they're most vulnerable.
When you think of an officer, you probably picture a person in uniform who investigates scenes, pieces together evidence, and comes to your rescue when you're a victim of a crime. But some officers have another duty; some work like mental health counselors.
"They feel they have nothing else to live for, so they've reached rock bottom," says Dr. David Thomas, a retired police officer who spent 20 years on the force -- the last five as a SWAT negotiator. He's talking about barricaded suspects, or people who lock themselves inside with a weapon and make threats.
The SWAT team shows up in numbers wearing tactical gear and carrying powerful weapons. But Dr. Thomas said their number one goal is not to use them. "Use SWAT to contain and maintain a tactical advantage, and then use the hostage negotiators to negotiate, to try to come up with an outcome," Dr. Thomas said.
For that outcome to be a peaceful one, he said the negotiator has to step into the other person's shoes and see things from their perspective. "They have to meet that person at whatever place they are to try to talk themselves out of that incident, to try to get them to peacefully give up," Dr. Thomas said.
In March, Fort Myers Police were called to Reflection Isles after a man locked himself in an apartment with a gun. Police told neighbors to stay away form the area. After several hours, they were able to talk him down and the situation ended peacefully.
Dr. Thomas said other calls are harder, and during those calls, he works to find anything the person still sees importance in. "The individual has already looked at themselves and decided 'I have nothing to live for,' so now the key is to find those things -- it could be a mom, a dad, a child -- those things that you think are important to them," he said.
He said many people in these situations have mental health issues, or have lost everything that's mattered to them. "As I'm having this conversation with him for three-and-a-half hours, and I'm literally less than 10 feet away..." Dr. Thomas said he witnessed the worst possible outcome.
"Every time one of those came up, I would literally call my wife -- it was 2-3 in the morning -- I would wake her up, say 'Hey, I got another one of these,' I said 'I'll call you when I'm done,' hang up the phone, step out of the patrol car, throw up, go handle the call," Dr. Thomas said.
He said he did another 10-to-15 of these calls, and that's how he finished his career.
Fox 4 is sharing Dr. Thomas's perspective to show the work that goes into saving your life, to show you that the investigators care, no matter how long it takes, and to remind you there is always another way. If you or someone you know is struggling, there is a 24/7 free National Suicide Prevention Lifeline you can call: 1-800-273-8255.
