All calm in the eye of the storm

Constable Gaylene Macfarlane is like the eye of a hurricane. While the trained negotiator calmly tries to break the deadlock with a man threatening to blow himself up, mayhem swirls on the Tauranga streets below. Startled shoppers are herded by police from Devonport Rd and businesses are forced to close as police cars block off central city streets. Teams of armed police, clad in black overalls, face masks and helmets work quickly to clear residents from the swanky Devonport Towers - the scene of the drama - as the central city grinds to a standstill. For the first five hours of the 13-hour saga, Ms Macfarlane is the soothing voice on the phone to Jakob Slevec - the man who allegedly claimed to have a bomb and threatened to blow himself up. The Tauranga constable is part of a highly-trained team talking and listening to the 57-year-old Slovenian who is holed up in the hotel's conference room. Thankfully, the talking and listening tactic pays off. It is believed Slevec fell asleep at 12.30am on Friday, giving police a window of opportunity to pounce. "It was a huge relief. It's an intensive job especially for that long," Ms Macfarlane said. She has been a negotiator for five years and it's a job where lives can depend on her every word. "Staying in contact is vital - you can't negotiate without communication," she said. Police were quick to establish telephone contact with Slevec after the drama started just after 11am on Thursday. "You have to get in there and find out what the issue is and how to resolve it in the best possible way so that no one gets hurt. "A huge part of it is listening and listening to what has upset them." But the mother and former sport and leisure tutor at Bay of Plenty Polytech is quick to point out it's a "team sport" when it comes to negotiating. "There is a whole team working with you and feeding information. You couldn't do it on your own." Negotiators work in pairs with one doing the talking and the other acting as another set of ears to do the prompting. They swap roles to give each other a break or to pursue different tactics. People were unpredictable and sometimes when negotiators were making headway they could just hang up, Ms Macfarlane said. Focussing on the positive aspects of the situation to encourage the person to keep talking was a good tactic. "Sometimes you don't even know their first name when you get there. You don't know what they want or their concerns, and that's dangerous." Saying the wrong thing out of ignorance can turn a volatile incident into a disaster. Hostage dramas such as Thursday's are still rare in the Bay. There are four negotiators attached to the Tauranga-based Armed Offenders Squad who cover the coast from Athenree to Lottin Point on the East Coast.