Call in the Hostage Negotiator

Related Content

• FBI Still Mulling Possible Hate Crime Charges Against George Zimmerman
  May 15, 2012
• Carl Scalise: "Congress Must Take Action" to Bust the Mafia
  March 22, 2012
• Miami Beach City Manager Jorge Gonzalez Promises Reforms As He Fights For His Job UPDATE
  May 9, 2012
• Chris Paciello ratted on mob bosses, new documents show
  March 8, 2012
• Miami imams accused of funding terrorists: Hate and redemption
  February 2, 2012

More About

• Federal Bureau of Investigation
• Gary Noesneris
• Die Hard
• Kidnapping
• Crime and Law

Like this Story?

Sign up for the Events Newsletter: What's happening in town? From underground club nights to the biggest outdoor festivals, our top picks for the week's best events will always keep you in on the action.

Privacy Policy Cancel Continue

A terrorist, hijacker, or kidnapper picks up the phone, and magically there’s a law enforcement officer on the other end: “What are your demands?” Then the dance starts. The bad guy gets mad and orders a pizza. The negotiator plays good cop/bad cop and eventually utters, “I just want everyone to go home safe.” It’s a scenario repeated in dozens of Hollywood flicks. But Gary Noesneris the guy who answers those calls in real life. Noesner spent 23 years as an FBI negotiator, including a decade as the department’s top guy. Now he’s written all about it in the book Stalling for Time: My Life as an FBI Negotiator. He has plenty of material, including more high-profile hostage situations than the entire Die Hard franchise squared. In the book, Noesner gives personal accounts of prison riots, militia standoffs, airplane hijackings, embassy takeovers, and more than 120 overseas kidnappings of U.S. citizens.
Mon., Sept. 27, 8 p.m., 2010