The Hostage Negotiations Team (H.N.T.) is comprised of members of the Calaveras County Sheriff’s Department that are assigned to other full-time duties and perform their H.N.T. function in addition to their regular assignments. Sworn officers assigned to H.N.T. must meet demanding selection criteria, attend numerous training schools and are required to attend ongoing team training sessions. Additionally, team members must have a technical skill in a variety of communications equipment and must maintain proficiency with the equipment and up to date on related case laws and regulations.
H.N.T. is on-call 24 hours a day, all year around. The team is another tool for law enforcement to peacefully resolve potentially dangerous and sometimes deadly situations without injury or death.
The Calaveras H.N.T. unit provides mutual aid during crisis situations to other law enforcement agencies when requested and also provides training to other law enforcement and public service agencies. Training topics include: basic negotiations, first responder issues, crisis intervention, hostage survival, threat assessment and workplace violence related topics.