Listening Skills for Effective Policing

Andrew Fairie was a police officer in England and Scotland for 30 years. As a hostage and crisis negotiator for 12 of those years, listening was essential to the safe resolution of over 115 incidents where there was a high risk to the individuals involved. He helped select, train and develop police negotiators and pioneered the use in Scotland of negotiation tactics to improve the way the police listen to those engaged in protest activity. He has utilised the skills learnt and enhanced them to become a cognitive behaviour therapist, helping people overcome issues such as low mood, anxiety, phobias and PTSD.