Brown now certified as level III crisis and hostage negotiator

Ozark County Sheriff’s Deputy Sgt. Justin Brown, second from right, recently completed a training course to become certified as a level III crisis and hostage negotiator. The training, offered by Crisis Systems Management and sponsored by the Midwest Counterdrug Training Center, was held at Camp Dodge military base in Johnston, Iowa. He is pictured here with Texas Ranger and instructor John Vance, far left, CSM CEO and instructor Deb McMahon, second from left and instructor John Calautti. “There are three levels [of crisis negotiation training] put on by this company,” Brown told the Times. “They are the only company in the country that has three levels. The FBI only has two, so it’s an advanced certification.” Brown says he completed the level I and II crisis negotiation certifications over the last five years. “It’s beneficial [to OCSD], because now I have an understanding of how to write the policies and procedures that the department needs for crisis negotiation.… Once everything is in place, we’re going to build an actual [crisis negotiation] team. When that happens, I’ll be able to write scenarios and conduct different trainings for the team.” Brown said the department is now part of the Missouri Association for Crisis Negotiators, which opens up a network of people and tools that can be useful in crisis negotiation situations.