North Hills Special Response Team earns negotiating award

When it comes to negotiating tough situations, the North Hills Special Response Team can be considered one of the best.

It placed first in the Best of the Best negotiating competition hosted by the Pittsburgh FBI in August at The David L. Lawrence Convention Center.

Six Pittsburgh-area special response teams were involved in the competition, which is in its fourth year, according to Catherine Coennen, of the FBI Pittsburgh office.

The negotiation competition involved teams running through scenarios based on real-life situations that law enforcement agencies may encounter, according to Coennen. Teams may be asked to to safely remove a subject who is barricaded in a home or try to talk a subject into releasing hostages.

“Crisis Negotiation training promotes better cooperation between law enforcement agencies while improving each agency’s ability to respond,” she said.

For this training exercise, a team from each agency worked through different scenarios. The agencies competed against each other and were evaluated.

“It also gives the teams an opportunity to get real-time training and practice their operational response capability to conduct and manage on-scene negotiations during any significant crisis event,” Coennen said.

The North Hills SRT has 57 members, including negotiators, tactical operators, tactical EMS, snipers, and more, according to McCandless police Sgt. Michael Cheberenchick, a negotiator on the North Hills SRT.

The team may respond to hostage situations, armed and barricaded individuals and active shooter incidents.

The North Hills SRT consists of the Allegheny County Sheriff’s Office and officers from Etna, Fox Chapel, Franklin Park, Hampton Township, Indiana Township, McCandless, Millvale, Northern Regional Police, O’Hara Township, Ohio Township, Port Authority of Allegheny Police, Reserve, Ross, Ross/West View EMS, Shaler, Sharpsburg, West Deer and West View, according to the Ohio Township Police Department.

The Best of the Best competition consisted of two scenarios, each one lasting several hours. Cheberenchick said the competition was very life-like.

“The scenarios are detailed, with veteran negotiators role-playing opposite the competing negotiators, whether as criminals, victims, witnesses, or more,” he said.

“The competition is intense, in every sense of the word,” Cheberenchick said. “Five minutes in, and you’ve forgotten it’s a competition and not the real thing.”

Members of the North Hills SRT team acted as they would have with a “true call out,” with members acting in various roles as primary negotiator, coach, intelligence gatherer, scribe and team leader, according to Cheberenchick.

“We truly did treat it exactly as we would a real-world call out,” he said.

Northern Regional Police had two negotiators on the team, said Northern Regional Chief of Police John Sicilia. Detective Matthew Durzo and Patrol Officer Ryan Olaszewski are full-time members of the Northern Regional. But they are ready to go into action at any time as SRT members.

Durzo has been with Northern Regional since 2003 and started with SRT in 2006 as a tactical operator before transitioning to negotiations.

He said the competitions are meant to be challenging.

“It’s fluid. It could be going really well, then something goes off the rails,” Durzo said.

The FBI officers were in charge of leading the situations during the competitions.

“Being that the actors in the scenarios are veteran negotiators themselves, they know exactly how to throw obstacles in your way. They know the potential land mines there are to step on, and so they push you as hard as they can. Step on that landmine, and they will be pushing you for it accordingly,” Cherenchick said.

The North Hills SRT, which began in 2005, operates under an administrative oversight committee made up of three chiefs from the participating agencies. The committee currently consists of Sicilia, West View Chief Bruce Fromlak and Etna Chief Timothy Rodman.

The team consists of a commander, team leaders, SWAT operators, snipers, crisis negotiators, tactical emergency medics, a tactical emergency response nurse, and trauma physician.

Tactical operators need to first apply, pass background check, then pass an oral interview, physical agility and firearms proficiency test. Negotiators must pass the same except for physical agility and firearms tests.

Cherenchick appreciates the win.

“It is highly rewarding, and even though it isn’t necessary, receiving the recognition of your peers, people who you highly respect and who are the best in their profession, is immensely satisfying,” he said.

Team members have been able to take their trophy on a victory tour of their towns.

Fox Chapel Officer Chad Lippert said it’s the first year the North Hills SRT has taken home the championship.

“It was a collaboration effort with all the team members to pull this off,” Lippert told Fox Chapel Council in August. He’s been a member of the team for several months. “There was nine (out of 14) of us at the competition, and not one of us were sitting still in a controlled environment per se. The scenarios come out and you work it as a real call. You have to start from the ground up.”

Sharpsburg Officer Jon Kimmel brought it and several crisis team members to a borough council meeting in August, where they received a proclamation from Mayor Brittany Reno.

“Safely and sensitively helping people navigate their personal crises is an important part of our police department’s and greater community’s approach to public safety,” Reno said. “The North Hills SRT’s Crisis Negotiation Team earning this honor is something that means a lot to us all here in Sharpsburg.”

Kimmel said it felt great to be honored in front of other residents.

“It’s great that we were able to do this,” Kimmel said. “These guys and girls work extremely hard to get where we are today. They really are the best of the best at what they do, and it’s an honor and a privilege to work with them.”