How the police negotiating team uses wits and compassion to save lives

Police work can be dangerous, often carried out under difficult and unpredictable conditions. But for a special squad within the force, whose task is to save the desperate, the pressure may be the most extreme.

Gilbert Wong Kwong-hing, a member of the 69-member police negotiation team, says rescuing people on the brink of killing themselves is like being a commando.

"It's like serving in the Special Duties Unit. It's just that their challenges are physical by nature, whereas ours are mental. People can jump to their death right in front of our eyes. These life-and-death encounters can put us under a lot of mental strain," he says.

As the case of a J.P. Morgan banker who leapt from the company's Central headquarters in February illustrates, it's a tough job, and negotiators' efforts don't always succeed.

Membership of the Police Negotiation Cadre, which was set up in 1975, is voluntary and team members can be on call around the clock. The unit holds a recruitment exercise every two years, with about 200 applicants vying for 15 spots. Officers who are accepted as negotiators do so as a secondary duty in addition to their primary role in the force.

Wong, senior superintendent with the Service Quality Wing, joined the force in 1993. Six years later, he joined the Police Negotiation Cadre, where he is now a commanding officer. The psychology major enjoys helping others and talking with people from all walks of life.