From Barricade Negotiations to a New Kind of Crisis
The ping of my work phone jolted me awake seconds after I’d fallen asleep one night in late 2024. The local police department was requesting our collaboration on an ongoing barricade situation that began earlier in the day, in which an armed individual was refusing the commands of officers to exit a lodging. We were instructed to report to the staging location immediately.
Expecting this might happen, I had laid out my crisis negotiator clothing and tactical gear before I went to bed. When the alert came through, I was ready and driving to the staging location within 20 minutes, coffee in hand. (A lesson I learned early on was to always bring coffee. Barricades may last longer than you expect and adrenaline depletes.)
In every barricade scenario, FBI personnel must apply sound judgment in split second decisions and adapt to each unique circumstance as it unfolds. SWAT operators develop tactical strategies and adjust accordingly. Negotiators employ active listening skills and evaluate indicators of change. The on-scene commander — typically the Special Agent in Charge or Assistant Special Agent in Charge of the local field office — weighs all of this information and makes decisions.
Should negotiators have more time to talk with the subject? Is tactical action approved? What legal framework must be considered? The on-scene commander has the final say.
On this particular day, the team navigated several instances of elevated risk. All our training and all the work we put in through the night culminated in the three words we all wanted to hear: “Subject in custody.”
I let out a sigh and my muscles relaxed. The highway was reopened. Businesses and community life reemerged as the sun rose.
The professionalism of my colleagues and their empathy for human life — regardless of how a person was acting in a moment of crisis or what actions had led to the situation — filled me with pride.
That result is only possible when there’s steady leadership, tactical patience, and mutual trust between the entire FBI team on scene. These things are established through years of experience and rigorous training that are passed to the next generation of special agents, intelligence analysts, and professional staff.
Fast-forward to today.
The on-scene commander is no longer with the FBI.
I, one of the two negotiators, am no longer with the FBI.
Both gone before retirement, with years left to give in service to our country.
We are witnessing FBI leaders and other professionals being pushed out of the Bureau, in offices across the country.
Looking Back, but Moving Ahead
In late spring of 2025, I witnessed the political targeting of the on-scene commander of the barricade situation, resulting in his resignation. His abrupt departure happened a few days before my last day in the office. I had chosen to resign when it became clear to me that upper FBI leadership was using the power of the FBI to undermine justice. But witnessing this particular political targeting escalated my concern.
I walked through the office on those last days as if I were stumbling through the smoke of a house fire. I was witnessing something I never could have imagined before: political leaders decapitating the FBI’s career leadership structure and using the Bureau’s vast authority to serve the interests of those in power.
Leadership positions are not replaced overnight. These positions take years of development so that when leaders are put into high-risk situations, such as barricade situations, they are equipped to handle the complexity and make potentially life-altering decisions with confidence.
This needed time of development is true for all the positions within the FBI.
During the first year of this administration, over 3,500 people left the FBI, including officials who were forced out or summarily dismissed for partisan reasons, and those who resigned due to untenable circumstances.
One of them — former intelligence analyst Philip Fields — created a dashboard to help the public see the numbers. But while tracking the departures is crucial, the numbers don’t capture what it means to have far less institutional knowledge and the experience in our premiere investigative agency, at a time when we face increasing and evolving threats to our country.
That is why I joined Justice Connection’s FBI Support Network advisory committee. We are a group of former FBI employees dedicated to addressing the unique challenges facing the FBI’s workforce. We are here to connect them to legal, mental health, and employment support — and help them with any other needs they have.
We are also speaking out against these attacks on the Bureau and raising awareness about the importance of its mission-critical work. I am honored to join this endeavor to support those who have devoted their lives to protecting others.
I still have faith in the rank-and-file of the FBI, who embody the once core values and the FBI motto: “Fidelity, Bravery, Integrity.” I don’t know what will happen to the Bureau in the future. But during this time of unprecedented assault on its workforce, I know that the professionals who remain need support from those of us on the outside.
