Hostage negotiation training and competition

SAN MARCOS, TEXAS — Approximately 350 officers representing law enforcement agencies from across Texas and the United States will participate in hostage negotiation training and competition Wednesday and Thursday, Jan. 9 and 10, at Southwest Texas State University in San Marcos.

Teams will be conducting mock hostage negotiation exercises from 8 a.m. until 5 p.m. both Wednesday and Thursday at the Hines Academic Center on the SWT campus. The event is sponsored by the SWT Department of Criminal Justice.

Media coverage of these exercises is invited. For further information, contact Mark Hendricks at SWT Media Relations and Publications at (512) 245-2180 or Wayman Mullins at the Department of Criminal Justice at (512) 245-2174. For on-site interviews, contact Wayman Mullins at the Hines Academic Center. Mullins, a professor of criminal justice at SWT, is an expert in hostage and crisis negotiations and terrorism.

To get to the Hines Academic Center: Take the Aquarena Springs Drive exit on I-35 on the north side of San Marcos. Turn west on Aquarena Springs Drive. Continue until you cross the San Marcos River. Turn right on Sessom Drive immediately after crossing the river. Turn left on State Street immediately before the first traffic light. Go up the hill. Hines Academic Center is the second building on the right on State Street. Parking is available in the parking lot across the street from the Hines Academic Center.